Chasing Game
by TBloves2read
Summary: Mercy Ann Jones is a thirtysomething who has decided that she wants more out of life than be an old maid librarian who lives at home with her mother. In her pursuit of the perfect man, she unkowingly witnesses a murder that places her in the capable hands of police chief Sam Evans. A re-telling of Linda Howard's Open Season with Glee characters.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is the other story that I have wanted to rewrite for Samcedes since forever. I wanted to make sure that everyone know that this is not my idea or even mostly my words. I am just rewriting Linda Howard's book** _ **Open Season**_ **and putting a Glee twist on it. I don't own anything in this tale. But I must warn you that it involves human trafficking and has triggers of date rape via drug use and many other gruesome things. So, please keep this in mind when reading this tale.**

Prologue

Santana nervously clutched her bag that held some water and a small package of food she had been able to steal for the trip up North. With all this talk of building walls to separate Mexico from the United States, she figured this would be the time to cross the border. David Martinez had told her that they wouldn't be able to stop to eat or drink or have bathroom breaks until they reached Las Vegas. She was locked in a blue trunk covered with items with tiny microscopic holes bored in so that she could breath. The cramp space was hot and made movement almost impossible. Because of the movement of the vehicle knocking the trunk around, she wasn't still long enough to try to sleep the entire trip.

Santana was scared but she had no choice. Her family had come from Puerto Rico to vacation in Mexico, and due to a car accident, she was left in the country stranded with no way of getting home because the Mexican authorities offered her no help because she had no money. She was a fifteen year old who had lived an easy life with parents who provided her every need. She didn't need to know the names of the family's attorney or how to get money out of their accounts. For all she knew none of her extended family knew of the accident or even knew she was alive. The police gave her one phone call and when she called her abuela, no one answered the phone.

She was living on the streets of Mexico making a way the best that she knew how which was by stealing from tourists. She listened to the other girls telling of ways that some of their friends had left the country. At the time, she was willing to do anything to leave the streets of Mexico, so she decided to go with them to meet David Martinez an American who helped girls, who wanted to live a better life, leave the country and enter into the United States.

Santana knew that once she got to America, she could get to the embassy or go to the police and ask for help to getting back home to Puerto Rico. She was legally entitled to enter the country; she just didn't have her passport or any identification. The accident that she was in caused her to be thrown from the car before the car burst into flames burning all her luggage and personal possessions. She was sure that the American police would allow her to use a telephone, and her relatives in Puerto Rico would be able to send for her, and she would be able to go home and properly grieve the loss of her parents and her younger brother.

Santana tried to use these thoughts to distract her as she was moved from one vehicle to the next and then finally when she heard the English language, she knew she had made it to America. David Martinez had not let her down. As the trunk was opened, she was surprised to see that she was not the only female who had made it across the border illegally. There were at least three other girls, and they were rounded up and put on the back of a semi truck for the next part of their journey.

After riding in the vehicle all night long, she could hear a girl say in Spanish that she needed to use the bathroom in a voice filled with shame. Santana told the girl in Spanish that she needed to go, too. Santana could literally feel her bladder about to explode in pain. She was trying to ignore it knowing that she would soon be safe in police custody, but when she saw tears roll down the girl's face as she told them she couldn't hold back her water, Santana was moved with compassion.

Santana looked at the older girls who looked as powerless as the little girl, so she decided to make the decision. "We must all do what we have to do." She said as she designated an area in the truck for them to pee in.

"What if we have to do the other?" One of the other girls ask after they took turns relieving themselves.

"Hopefully, we will stop before then." It was summer and hot in the back of the truck. And the idea of smelling that was something that made bile rise up in the back of Santana's throat.

The girls began to talk among themselves saying how they agreed to pay David Martinez money for this opportunity to be brought into the United States. Santana realized she was lucky because she hadn't any money to pay him, and he agreed to help her for free. Maybe it was because she was pretty that he had made an exception for her.

It seemed as if the trip to Las Vegas would never end. Santana realized that she had brought a little food and water, and she couldn't eat without sharing with the other girls, so she divided up her rations allowing them one sip of water from her bottle. She knew how thirsty the girls were, so she added, "If any of you take more than one small sip before passing the bottle, I will slap the hell out of you."

Under her dark fierce piercing gaze, each girl did what Santana said. By organizing them and deciding where they could relieve themselves and giving them water, Santana had become their unofficial leader. Santana allowed the girls to take two sips a piece before taking back the bottle. She didn't know how much longer they had in the truck, and she didn't want to use up all of the water so soon.

After what felt like forever the truck pulled off of the highway and stopped. The engine was still running when they heard David Martinez get out. Santana quickly gathered her meager belongings thinking that surely they were in Las Vegas by now.

"This is as far I will take you." David announced. "The truck is too hot for you, and you all could die. My good friend Puck will take you all the rest of the way. His truck has air-conditioning."

Santana looked over at the man named Puck. He was wearing jeans and a plaid shirt carrying four bottles of water. The girls eagerly accepted and drank the water while David talked to Puck in English which only Santana spoke.

"You all must do exactly what Puck says or you may be deported right back to Mexico. He understands a little of our language. So, if you need something. Let him know."

All of the girls nodded in agreement and got into the camper shell of Puck's large white pickup truck. There were sleeping bags and a small stool with a hole on top that served as a toilet. There was no room to stand, so they had to lie down or sit. The cold air and the music coming from the truck's speakers was soothing, and the girls endured the trip to Las Vegas for two more days.

Noah stopped and fed the girls regularly and gave them water to drink, but they were unable to wash and all of them smelled horribly. Sometimes Puck would stop in the middle of desert to air the camper out, but their body order made it impossible to smell fresh for any length of time.

When they passed the desert, Santana could see civilization with cars, people, and buildings. She didn't know if they were in Vegas or not, but she asked Puck to see if they had finally made it. He told her they were still a long way from Vegas, but they were in Memphis. After another couple of days on the road, they finally stopped in Lima, Ohio, and Puck allowed them to get out of the truck and enter a trailer which he had unlocked.

The mobile home was big with a lot of furniture and a nice size kitchen and two bathrooms that they could take turns taking a bath. He gave them all a loose short dress to wear that he said they could keep. They were amazed at his kindness. Not only did he supply them with clothes, but he gave them toothbrushes and toothpaste to brush their teeth and shampoo and conditioner for their hair.

After getting cleaned, Santana felt as if she was human again. Although he had given her the dress, he hadn't given her any underwear, and she felt slightly self-conscious parading around without underwear. While the other girls were sleeping in twin beds in two rooms, she went out to ask Puck if he would take her to the Embassy or a police station, so she could be able to return home to Puerto Rico.

Puck told her the trailer didn't have a landline phone, and his cell phone didn't pick up reception in the area. He promised to take her to town the next day, so she could get in contact with the proper authorities. He offered her a Coke and while they were sitting down watching TV, she began to get sleepy. He offered her some peanuts which she loved and drank more Coca Cola to wash the salt of the nuts down. Santana could feel herself getting sleepier and sleepier.

When there was a loud noise on the TV, she would jerk awake but her neck muscles wouldn't work and instead of lifting her head, she felt herself sliding sideways. Then, Puck was there helping her to lie down on the sofa and stretching her legs. He was still touching her legs, and although she tried to tell him to stop, her tongue wouldn't work and she couldn't speak. Soon, he was touching her between her legs where no one had ever touched her. She so badly wanted to stop him, but darkness settled over her, and she thought no more.

Chapter One

"Mercy. Get your butt down here. Breakfast is ready!" Mercy's mom voice echoed up the stairwell, the same shrill voice she had been using ever since Mercy was in the first grade and had to be forced out of the bed.

Instead of getting up, Mercy Ann Jones remained in the bed listening to the sound of the steady rain pounding on the roof. It was the morning of her thirty-fourth birthday, and she just didn't want to get up. The dark and dreary day mirrored her mood. She was 34 years old, and there was nothing about this day which made her want to celebrate.

The rain wasn't even a thunderstorm, which she would enjoyed with the roll of the thunder and the flashes of lightning. Nah, it was just a steady pouring of rain gliding down her bedroom windows. Making her birthday feel like a heavy reminder of the fact that all her good days were behind her, and what had being good gotten her, absolutely nothing.

Mercy had to face the cold and terrifying facts. She was 34, had never been married or engaged. She had never had a hot love affair, just a brief relationship in college to prove to everyone that she wasn't gay. She lived with her widowed mother and aunt. The last time she had been on a date was on September 7, 2009, with her Aunt Joanna's Jewish best friend's nephew, Jacob-because he hadn't been on a date in his life. What a horrible date that had been. To her relief, he didn't even try to kiss her. It had been one of the worse evenings of her entire life.

If there was one word to describe Mercy's life, it would be uninteresting. Her clothes, her hair, her face, her entire existence was uninteresting. She was a 34 year old small town barely-been-kissed spinster librarian, and she might as well be 84 for all the action she was getting.

Mercy finally stopped looking outside at the rain and started to look up at the ceiling. She was still too depressed to get up and join her mom and Auntie Jo downstairs where they would sing Happy Birthday in perfect harmony, and she would have to smile and pretend to be excited about her big day. She looked at her alarm clock, and she knew she had to get up because she had to be to work by nine. She just didn't want to face the world yet.

Last night, she laid out her outfit that she would wear the next day a habit she had since she was in high school. She didn't have to look at the chair to see the navy skirt, white blouse, and sweater that resembled the majority of her old maid wardrobe.

Suddenly, she felt embarrassed by her own lack of style. A woman of her age should dress to impress at least on her birthday. She should have gone shopping for a birthday outfit. She couldn't even do something special with her makeup because the only makeup she owned was a single tube of lipstick that was a brownish color that was not too much different than her natural lip color. Most of the time she just used lip gloss and headed out the door. She didn't need makeup for her job and no date status, so she rarely bothered. Now as she was getting to closer to 35 and then the big four oh, she realized that had didn't even know how she got herself in this predicament.

These thoughts propelled Mercy out of the bed to look at herself in her dresser mirror. Her naturally curly hair was tied up in a silk scarf, so she took the scarf off to see her full image in the mirror.

She didn't like what she saw. She looked like a kid of twelve in her footie pajamas and the hairstyle she had at the same age. No hair fried, dyed, and laid to side and definitely no Victoria's Secret sexy nighties for her. She just looked ordinary.

Mercy knew why she was looking at herself critically in the mirror. She knew why she didn't want to get out of the bed on birthday, and it was all because of the tick tock on her internal biological clock. For the first time in her life, the research concerning women who had to save their eggs to increase their chances of motherhood at her age were getting to her. She wanted a baby and even a husband of her own, and she realized she was in big trouble.

Almost half of her life was over, and she was no closer to realizing the dreams she had since she was a little girl. Whenever someone asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up, she always said she wanted to be her mother. In Mercy's opinion as a child, her mother could do no wrong. She was a high school teacher, church soloist, great wife, and the best mother ever. When her little sister Jane was born, Mercy would emulate her mother and take care of her little sister and play house with her pretending to be her sister's mother or play school with her and pretend to be her sister's teacher.

Not only did Mercy want children, she could adopt or foster if that was the case or even get a sperm donor. She wanted SEX. Not just fumbling in the dark with any man or paying for it from a prostitute. She wanted hot, sweaty, grunting, rolling-around naked in the middle of the afternoon sex. She wanted her fabulous breasts and booty to be used for something more than flesh in her underwear. She looked really good naked, and it was a shame that she was the only one to ever see and appreciate her curves.

Because Mercy developed curves at a young age, her father had made sure her mother bought clothes that disguised Mercy's shape. Her father didn't like the fact that at the age of nine, his daughter was getting stares from the older men in their church's congregation. So, he made sure that her mother bought clothes that were always loose and baggy on Mercy. During the 1990s, saggy and baggy clothes were in style, so Mercy was never picked on in school. But when she went to college, styles suddenly changed, and she always had a belly, so she couldn't wear the bare midriffs, or skin tight clothing that her peers were wearing.

It was hard to attract male attention in college because she still dressed as she did when she was in high school. When she graduated from graduate school getting her masters in library science and becoming a librarian instead of a teacher, she knew what was expected in her job's dress code. In order for people to take her seriously, she had to dress the part of the traditional stern librarian who shushed everyone. Her mother took her shopping from the same stores she bought her school teacher wardrobe from, and Mercy had been dressing like a middle aged woman for the remainder of her life.

After bemoaning her state in life, Mercy realized that the good Lord helps those who help themselves, and if she wanted change in her life, then she had to be an agent of that change. Desperation sparked inspiration and inspiration gave her the revelation that she had to stop being the good, dependable girl.

Her pulsed raced, and she could feel her heart beating through her chest as she began to breathe rapidly. Surely, the Lord didn't have that in mind, when He decided to give her the inspiration to do this on her own. Not only was this very unChristian-like, but she didn't know how to be a bad girl. Her father had been the music minister of their church and on the City Council. She was reared in a strict household with demands that she never said or did anything to cause her family embarrassment. She had been the good girl her entire life. How was she suddenly going to become a bad girl?

In her mother's and aunt's opinion, bad girls smoked weed, got drunk, danced in clubs, and slept around with so many men that they didn't know who their babies' fathers were. She might be able to handle the dancing, she really liked that idea, but smoking was out, and she didn't like alcohol enough to get more than tipsy, and as for sleeping around with any Tom, Dick, or Harry, that was completely out of the question. She wasn't about to endanger her health by being an easy lay.

Her subconscious balked at her judgmental ideas. 'Bad girls get all the men!' She watched reality television, and the more ratchet a girl's behavior was, the more more popular she was with men. Some even had husbands who seemed to like the fact that their wives were proverbial bad girls.

Common sense told her that she was being too linear in thinking. There were plenty of good girls who had managed to marry and have kids. All of her friends, and even her younger sister Jane were good girls who were married and had kids of their own. It could be done. Unfortunately for her, it seemed that the men who were attracted to good girls were all taken. So, what kind of man was left? Men who were attracted to bad girls, that's what.

But, did she even want a man who was attracted to bad girls. Was she that desperate? Her hormones wailed hell yeah! She wanted sex, marriage, and babies, and she was willing to lower her standards to find a man willing to give her these three things, but she wasn't willing to be with a man who spent more time in clubs, than he did at work or at home. She didn't want a man who would sleep with anyone who had a hole.

She didn't want a saint or even a man with minimal experience like herself. She didn't mind a man with swagger and confidence. He didn't have to be handsome, but he had to have that look in his eyes that he knew how to give a girl a good time. She didn't care if he was a pharmacist, fireman, or postal worker. Surely there could still be good men who wanted to settle down and be faithful to a woman who was willing to be faithful to him.

Even though she wanted to be a bad girl and attract all the types of men who were still single, she realized that she couldn't quite become a member of the bad girl's club. She had a job and her family had a reputation that she wasn't willing to besmirch just because she wanted to be all booed up.

Maybe she could be a party girl like those celebutantes. Someone who dressed fashionably, laughed, and had fun. Someone who wore short skirts and flirted and danced with men. Maybe she could do that. A big maybe...

"Mercy!" Her mother yelled again. This time Mercy knew that her mother's voice meant business. And she continued to yell, "you're going to be late!"

Mercy had never been late to work a day in her life. In fact, she was always early. Couldn't she be late once in her career? Her unblemished record at the library was just one more piece of proof of how much a goody goody she was.

Now she was a librarian a researcher by trade. Surely, she could figure out how to improve her appearance and become a woman that men would find fascinating. She needed a list. A list of things to improve to turn her into a woman who looked like a party girl. The first thing she needed to change was her hairstyle. The second thing she needed was makeup, and last but not least she needed new clothes. There, she thought feeling pleased with herself. She had a blueprint for the making of the new and improved Mercy Ann Jones.

After making her list, she went to the bathroom and began to get ready for her work day. After making sure she was clean, smelling good, and lotioned. She put on her old clothes and lipstick and headed downstairs for breakfast.

When she got to the kitchen, she saw two wrapped presents sitting on the kitchen table. Her mom had made her favorite breakfast, chocolate chip pancakes and bacon with a cup of cappuccino steaming beside her plate. The steaming cup meant her mom had been listening for her steps on the stairwell before pouring the cup and setting out the meal to make sure it was hot and not lukewarm. Tears welled up in her eyes when she thought about how much her mother and aunt loved her and she loved them dearly in return.

"Happy birthday!" They both said and begin to sing to her looking at her with love in their eyes.

"Thank you," she said managing a smile and because they urged her to, she quickly went to opening her gifts. The first was a pretty robe from her mother, and Mercy was grateful it wasn't what she got last year which was a book.

"I thought you might want something pretty." Her mother said before Aunt Jo pushed the other box towards Mercy.

"Hurry up, or your breakfast will get cold." Her aunt told her as Mercy began to slowly unwrap her next gift.

"Thanks Mom, it is pretty." Mercy told her mom as she opened her gift from her auntie.

She saw that the gift was the matching nightgown that went with the robe. Before she could tell her aunt thanks, Aunt Jo was asking her what she thought of the present.

"It's beautiful. You two are so sweet. They really are perfect gifts." Mercy said thinking earlier about what she thought of her current night apparel and tears slid down her cheeks.

"It's not that sweet," Aunt Jo said noticing her tears. "Why are you crying?"

"Is something wrong?" Her mother asked while reaching over to give her a hug.

"No, nothing is wrong. I just had an epiphany." Mercy said after her mother released her from the hug.

"Bet that hurt," Aunt Jo said looking at her with a wry grin.

"Jo," her sister said giving her sister a warning look before taking her daughter's hands in her own. "Tell us what is wrong."

Mercy took a deep breath then gathered up the courage and blurted out, "I want to get married."

The two sisters both looked at each then looked at Mercy before her mother said, "Well, that's wonderful, but to whom are you thinking of marrying?"

"That's the problem. No one wants to marry me." Mercy replied before burying her face in her hands trying to stop the tears from rolling down her face.

There was a small silence, and she knew that all eyes were on her. The sisters had a silent way of communicating with each other. It wasn't long before her mother cleared her throat. "I'm not sure what you are trying to tell us. Is there someone that you want to marry specifically?"

Bless her mother's heart, she was an English teacher to the core. She was always grammatically correct using whom and speaking in a formal way even when emotions were involved.

Mercy shook her head, and wiped away her tears before facing them again. "No, I'm not suffering from unrequited love, but I want to to get married and have babies before I get too old. And the way things are happening in my life now; that is not going to happen unless I began to make some major changes."

"What kind of changes are you thinking about making?" Aunt Jo asked warily.

"Look at me!" Mercy exclaimed pointing to herself from hair to toe. I am boring and frumpy looking. Who's going to look at me twice? Even Jacob Ben Israel wasn't interested. I have to make some major changes to _me_.

She took a deep breath. "I got to make myself look hotter. I need men to look at me, and I need to start going to places where I am likely to meet single men like clubs and sports bars." She paused waiting to hear her mother's objections. She thought quality women found quality men in church, and if that was the case, Mercy would have been married ten years ago. Then, she told them the biggest news of all when her mother and aunt hadn't interrupted her. "I need to move out and get a place of my own."

The sisters exchanged another glance without saying a word. What would she do if they objected. She couldn't disappoint them both, but the problem was that she loved them and wanted them to be happy, and she didn't want to upset them or make them ashamed of her.

Mercy was surprised when they both turned back to her with identical wide smiles on their faces. Aunt Jo was the first to break the silence. "It's about darn time." She said with a grin on her face.

"We'll help you." Her mother said beaming down at her daughter.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews and follows. I will continue to say I own none of this, but the spin into Glee World and I updated the story by a decade. Some of the librarian stuff was obsolete now, and I had to put in a few technological advances. For those wondering about Santana, my poor darling's fate will be revealed later.**

Chapter Two

Mercy drove to work on autopilot. Luckily, she had no stop signs to worry about and only one traffic light between her house and her job. She lived only five blocks from the library and could walk to work if the weather permitted. While she was driving to work, Mercy's mind fizzled with plans. Her mother and Aunt Jo had been bubbling with excitement, adding their own ideas, and all three of them agreed that she should take care of big-ticket items first. She had a healthy checking account balance and savings balance because she had lived with her mother and Aunt Jo ever since her father died. She only had to pay a third of the costs of utilities and groceries since her parents had paid for the house over fifteen years ago.

Mercy drove an older Ford Explorer that had been paid for five years ago. She hardly had any mileage on it because she lived so close to her job that she didn't need a newer car when she had finished paying for it. The salary of a librarian was the same as a high school teacher. She made $57,790 a year. She was able to claim head of household on her taxes because her mom was now retired, but taxes still took a big chunk of her check along with healthcare and Social Security. She didn't mind her meager salary even though she had the glorified title of director of the library, the mayor's office retained hiring and firing authority. She used her less than impressive budget to choose and buy books, along with doing routine technology classes and maintaining the technology at the library. She checked out books only when she was the only person working, and her library assistants were in charge of circulating books and shelving them.

The bottom line was that with half of her salary not being used in the last ten years had enabled Mercy to be able to afford a place of her own. However, there weren't many places available for rent in Lima, Ohio. She could always move to one of the larger towns, Cincinnati or Springfield, but she wanted to stay close to her mom. Her sister, Jane had already moved to Columbus, and though it wasn't really all that far a little over an hour's drive, it still wasn't the same as living in the same town as her mom. Besides, Hunter Clarington, the mayor, had a real obsession about hiring only Lima citizens for municipal jobs, a policy that Mercy approved of. She could hardly ask him to make an exception in her case. She would just have to find a place in Lima to live.

Lima had only a small tri-weekly paper that came out on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday. The last edition was still on her desk. She had folded it open to the advertisement section and quickly scanned down the columns. She noticed that Mrs. Ben Israel was looking for someone to help take care of her father-in-law who was ninety-eight and liked to take off his clothes when only other people were around. She found a small section of rentals and quickly skimmed down the list. There were eight listings, more than she had expected.

One address was familiar and she dismissed that rental immediately; it was an upstairs room in Roz Washington's house, and everyone in town knew that Roz invaded her boarders' privacy whenever she liked, searching the rooms as if she were a drug dog sniffing out tons of cocaine, then gossiping with her cronies about whatever she found. The whole town knew that Sue Sylvester had a box full of _Playgirl_ magazines, but Sue was so hateful and generally disliked that everyone agreed that the porn was the closest she was ever likely to get to any male genitalia. No way would Mercy live with Roz Washington. That left seven other possibilities.

"Vine Street," she muttered reading the next listing. That would probably be the Williams' small apartment over their garage. The rent was reasonable, and she didn't have to worry about Mrs. Williams snooping because she was a widow who had severe arthritis in her knees and had to pay someone to help her clean because she wasn't able to climb stairs or stoop down. Mercy circled that ad, and read the next ones.

There were two condos in Lima Heights Adjacent that were too expensive. The rent was high and the condos were ugly eyesores. They were possibilities if Mrs. Williams wasn't willing to rent her the apartment above the detached garage. There was also a house on Lincoln Avenue that she was unfamiliar with. She went online and searched the address on Google Maps and find the location right near Lima Heights. She dropped this house from her list of possibilities because she didn't know how rough the neighborhood would be, but she knew that Lima had its share of the criminal element.

The remaining three ads were also undesirable. One side of a duplex was available on a regular basis because of the trashy Bukowski family that lived on the other side. Nobody could put up with the hippy family that was constantly getting high, screaming, and cursing while just being plain nasty. Another ad was for a mobile home on the bad side of town and another house that was outside the city limits of Lima in Elida.

Mercy decided to call Mrs. Williams right away. She had to wait awhile because Mrs. Williams had accidentally flushed her cell phone, so her family decided that she needed a landline that wasn't mobile as her only phone.

"Hello?" Mrs. Williams said as she answered the phone with a creaky voice.

"Hello, Mrs. Williams. This is Mercy Jones. How are you doing today?"

"Just fine, dear. You know the rainy weather causes my arthritis to act up, so my joints are hurting. We need the rain, so I won't complain. How's your mother and Aunt Joanna doing?"

"They're doing fine. The reason why I am calling is to see if you still have the apartment over your garage for rent."

"Yes, do you know someone who may be interested in renting it?"

"I'm interested in renting it for myself. Would it be okay if I come over at lunch to check it out?"

"Why I suppose. Let me just check with your mother. I'll call you right back. You are at work, aren't you?"

Mercy blinked did she just hear what she thought she heard? "Excuse me," she said politely. "Why do you need to check with my mother?"

"To see if it's okay with her, of course, I couldn't let you rent my apartment without your mother's permission."

Mercy couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Her permission...I'm 34 years old; I don't need anybody's permission to live anywhere I choose."

"You two may have argued, but I wouldn't hurt Marcia's feelings like that."

"We didn't argue." Mercy tried to explain but was mortified. Did the entire town consider her so hopeless that she couldn't do anything without her mother's permission? Humiliation and anger welled up inside her. Maybe that was why she couldn't get a date. She couldn't believe that Mrs. Williams would think that she wouldn't be insulted by this.

"On second thought, Mrs. Williams, I don't think the apartment would be right for me; I am sorry to bother you." It was rude, but she hung up without saying goodbye. Mrs. Williams would probably tell all her friends about their conversation and how Mercy had an argument with her mother, but she couldn't help that. Mrs. Williams might not be able to snoop inside the apartment, but she would keep an eye out for all her comings and goings and feel obligated to repeat them back to her mother. Not that Mercy intended to do anything bad, she just didn't need someone reporting on all her activities.

The humiliation still burned inside her as she began to second guess how all of her friends and acquaintances saw her, as someone incapable of making decisions on her own. She had always considered herself to be an intelligent, responsible, self-supporting, and independent woman, but Mrs. Williams, someone who had known her all of her life, certainly didn't think so.

She realized that she had waited too long to move away from home. She should have done it ten years ago. Back then, changing her image would have been easy. She wouldn't be seen as someone who still lived with and answered to her mother. Maybe, it worked out that she wasn't going to live in Mrs. Williams' detached garage apartment. She would still be under some adult's supervision if she had done this. She wanted to have a new image, one of complete freedom. The ugly condos were looking better by the minute.

When she dialed the number of the ad, she wondered if the condo manager would take as long to answer the phone as Mrs. Williams had. When she finally heard a sleepy male voice saying hello, Mercy was quick to apologize. "I am sorry to wake you up." She said while thinking what kind of manager slept that late.

"It's okay," he replied groggily.

"I'm calling about the rental listing…"

He interrupted her before she could continue, "Sorry, I rented the last one yesterday," he said and then hung up.

Frustrated, Mercy stared down at the newspaper. She was left with the undesirable house on Lincoln Avenue because the duplex was unthinkable no way was she going to be Stoner Brett's neighbor, and no way was she living in a trailer park on the bad side of town. While she was contemplating her choices, the discrete bell on the door of the library chimed.

Mercy got up and smoothed her skirt, not that the action made her look any better. She was the only one working until noon, because they seldom had anyone in during the morning. Most of their traffic was in the afternoon when school was out; although of course during the summer, that pattern changed. The bulk of people still came in the afternoon, maybe because they were too busy doing other stuff in the cool mornings. Marley Rose came in at twelve (when she had her lunch break) and worked until the library closed at nine, plus Shannon Bieste, a retired teacher and coach, worked part-time from five until nine, so Marley was never alone there at night. The only one who was alone for any considerable length of time was Mercy, but she figured the greater responsibility was hers.

"Hey, is anybody here?" a deep Southern voice boomed, before she could step out of her small office behind the checkout desk.

Mercy took two hurried steps into view, a little outraged that anyone would shout in a library, even if there weren't any other patrons present at the moment. Seeing who the newcomer was, she checked him out briefly, then said briskly, "Yes, of course. There is no reason to yell."

Chief of Police Sam Evans stood on the other side of the scarred, wooden checkout desk, looking impatient. Mercy knew him by sight, but she had never spoken to him before, and she wished she wasn't going to have do so. Frankly, she didn't think much of Mayor Clarington's choice for chief. Something about him made her uneasy, but she didn't know exactly what is was that made her feel that way. Why couldn't the mayor have chosen someone local, someone already on the force? Chief Evans was an outsider, and from what she'd seen in town meetings, he wasn't averse to confronting people and using physical force if necessary.

"I wouldn't have yelled if anyone had been in sight." He replied flabbergasted at her rigid behavior. Most women melted to him and flirted shamelessly.

"The door wouldn't have been unlocked unless someone was here." She replied coldly while looking at him. Physically, Chief Evans was a very good-looking man, if one liked jocks with a fit body, strong arms, and broad sloping shoulders. She wasn't silly enough to automatically assume anyone athletic was also stupid; but still, Mercy had never cared for the type. There had to be something vain about a man who obviously dyed and/or highlighted his hair. She didn't know how old he was; his face was unlined except for the squint lines around his eyes, but his short cut hair while still mostly blonde on top, was brown everywhere else. At any rate, any man over 30 shouldn't be devoting that much time to hair salons. Nor did she care for the cocky arrogance in his eyes, or the way his full lips always seemed to be on the verge of sneering. Who did he think he was Elvis? Moreover, he was a Southern hick who had been a cop in either Nashville or Memphis, she had heard both. If he had had to run for office as the county sheriff did, he would never have been elected with his good old boy mannerisms.

Mercy stifled a sigh because she was in the minority in her opinion of Chief Evans. Mayor Clarington liked him, the city council liked him, and what she heard around town all the ladies were gaga for him. Maybe she was wrong in her instantaneous dislike of him. She reminded herself as a Christian, she shouldn't judge but keep an open mind, but she was glad that the circulation desk was between them.

"May I help you?" She asked in her best librarian's voice, both friendly and to the point. Working with the public daily required people skills. She had to encourage people to want to come to the library without their visits, she wouldn't have a job. She knew that most people came to the library to use the computers, but she had to make sure they'd respect the quietness that others needed for reading and/or research.

"Yeah, I want to sign up for the virtual library and make sure I am able to use the online library destination service for listening to audiobooks and reading ebooks."

The words he said were music to Mercy's ears. She was really proud that her county's branch of the library offered some of the best digital resources needed so patrons could utilize the library without physically having to come inside. The virtual library was organized so patrons could read newspapers, journals, and other scholarly articles as well as read and listen to books for enjoyment. Any citizen of Allen County could register for an account.

Mercy beamed at him with a huge smile on her face and enthusiastically told him, "you'll love it." She then lifted the hinged countertop that allowed her to step out from behind the security of the checkout desk. "Come with me."

She led him to the computer section and took a chair in front of the computer separated from the rest of the computers in the section and gestured to him to pull up another chair beside her. He brought a chair over and positioned it much too close to hers, and then settled his long body right next to her. He immediately leaned back and hitched up one leg crossing his right knee with his left ankle. It was the dominant male position, that of a man accustomed to physically commanding the space around him.

Mercy frowned up at him and mentally deducted those points he had just gained. Didn't he know that he shouldn't crowd people? She scooted her chair a couple of inches away so she didn't have to accidentally touch him. She then took his required information from him and entered it into the system and gave him his password, all the time aware of his closeness. She could feel his minty breath on her whenever he would talk. If she scooted away any farther, she wouldn't be able to reach the keyboard. She soon became irritated with him. Surely, as a cop he knew about invading a person's space. She shot him an exasperated look and was shocked to see him staring at her, and he wasn't even trying to hide it either.

"You are staring at me," she told him bluntly. "Do I have something on my face, or do I remind you of a dangerous fugitive?"

"Neither," he replied. "Law enforcement officers stare at people; it's a part of the job."

Oh, she thought, she supposed it was. She still didn't feel comfortable with him doing. "Stop doing it. It's rude, and you are making me uncomfortable."

"I am sorry that I am making you uncomfortable ma'am." He said but still didn't stop looking at her. He apologized but he probably didn't take orders well. So, she decided to stare at him to let him see how it felt to be studied by a stranger. She noticed his eyes were a vivid shade of green.

He looked at her staring at his eyes and smiled. "I guess I need to beg you for mercy?"

Her face felt hot as she'd had to deal with her name and the reference to the song that Duffy had made popular. Countless people had made reference to it to her and she was so over it. "No, you definitely should not." She replied with a frigid tone known to make the most unruly child or patron stop what they are doing and listen to her. She quickly got to her feet and gave him a plastic card with his password written on it. She quickly locked the computer screen and returned to the safe haven of her circulation desk.

"I apologize," he said which was the second time he had apologized in minutes. The problem was that she didn't think that he meant it either time. He leaned over the checkout desk towards her and said, "I guess you have gotten that a lot over the years, huh?"

"A lot." She echoed keeping the frigid tone to her voice watching him flex his shoulders as if settling his shirt more comfortably. She think she had read in an article on body language that men did that to impress women with their bodies. If he was trying to impress her, he had surely failed.

After a long moment of awkward silence because she refused to acknowledge his apology, he gave her another shrug and straightened up. He tapped the plastic card on the desk and said, "Thank you for your help."

Darn it, now she hard to acknowledge his presence. "You're welcome," she said as she watched him turn around to leave. She was fairly sure that she heard him snickering as he walked out of the library.

Stupid redneck! What was he doing in Ohio anyway? If he was used to being a cop in a big city like Memphis and/or Nashville, why would he want to settle in Lima, Ohio. Maybe he was a dirty cop who had gotten caught. Maybe he'd made an error in judgment and shot an innocent black youth. She imagined all sorts of things that would have gotten him sacked.

She had better things to do with her time than to worry about Sam Evans like finding a place to live. She made the goal of finding a place to move to before the nightfall. She remembered her short list of choices and didn't feel encouraged that she was going to meet her goal.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Unfortunately for some of you reading this story, you are going to be mad with me but sometimes I don't write things that make sense when I am using someone else's original work. Sometimes I do add too much detail and sometimes I leave out too much detail. This is one of my favorite books, so I try to keep the spirit of the book and sometimes making plot changes change the entire story and makes me have to spend days instead of hours writing chapters. If I didn't have anything to do all day but write, I would do this, and make it a story we would all enjoy reading, but this story is to supposed to disturb you, and if you don't want to be disturbed, you can skip this entire chapter but Santana's fate is revealed in this chapter so you may want to skim it. Thanks for all the reviews and love as always and please forgive my mistakes.**

Chapter Three

Mayor Hunter Clarington loved his little town. Lima was the county's seat and had the courthouse and a little park across the street from his office in city hall. City hall, a two story golden brown brick building, sat on one side of the town's square, flanked by the police department, and the white columned city library-the first ruled by Chief Sam Evans, a Tennessee transplant who kept the town squeaky clean, and the latter by Miss Mercy Jones, a strait-laced old maid. Not that she was all that old, but she was definitely as prim and proper as her mother his old high school English teacher had been. She was one of the mayor's favorite citizens in the small town filled with characters because she was so stereotypical.

Various stores and government buildings completed the rest of the square, like the dry cleaners, the hardware store, a clothing store, several antique shops, and lots of restaurants. Lima had a lot of nationwide department stores and restaurant chains located outside the town square. The downtown of Lima was reserved for only family owned and local businesses. Hunter believed in supporting small businesses, but he knew that visitors to the town liked local color, and he used the local stores for this advantage. While most of the residents of Lima shopped at Walmart and other stores because the prices at these stores were cheaper than the higher end boutiques located downtown.

On the whole Lima was a peaceful town. There weren't many clubs just a lot of bars and only one adult entertainment club in the entire city located in Lima Heights. Lima Heights was a part of the city that had a huge crime problem, but with Chief Evans on the job the only crimes that were being reported were a couple of assault and batteries, minor drug possessions of pills and pot, and mostly underaged drinking.

The crime in Lima Heights was one of the reasons why he had tapped Sam Evans as chief of police. Evans had worked in both Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis had one of the country's highest violent crime rates, and Evans had a lot of experience working in crime invested cities. If his methods were a little rough for this part of the country, then you had to take the bad with the good. The best thing about Evans was that he was an outsider who could get the job done because he wasn't a part of the network in which people could get off because of who they knew. Hunter wanted to make Lima peaceful and clean, and the plus side to having Evans on board was that he was too isolated to pick up on things that he didn't need to know. So, far that had worked out well for Hunter.

Hunter had been mayor of Lima for nine years. He had moved to Lima his senior year of high school because he had gotten caught with steroids at his old private school in Westerville. After living in Lima for a year, he had went to college with no desire to return back to the town until the grandparents he had lived with had gotten sick. When he came to take care of them, he realized his memories of the little town were not that bad. He had played football, basketball, and baseball his senior year, but he hadn't been a star athlete. His plans were to prove to his father that he wasn't a screw up, that he could be just as successful and respected as he was.

So, he married the former head cheerleader, Brittany S. Pierce after he graduated from college with his degree in business administration and before receiving his masters in public administration. After receiving his masters, the couple settled down in Lima living in his grandparents mansion to help take care of them while Hunter took over his grandfather's business. A year later they had a son Christopher, and three years later he had a daughter little Christina. Their family portraits were ideal, and helped him when he first campaigned for mayor at the age of 27 becoming the youngest mayor in Lima's history.

His kids were now 13 and 10. Chris was an athlete like his parents, and Christy was a whiz in math like her mother. His grandparents had passed away and left everything to him much to his father's chagrin. He decided at an early age to be the type of father his grandfather was and not his own father. He was lucky that his kids were so easy to love and encourage. They were good kids, and thank God neither of them acted like their mother.

Unfortunately, Brittany was the weakest link in his family. Precious, sweet, and snarky Brittany; he should have realized that if she was ho that everybody knew in high school and college, marriage wasn't going to change her. He discovered that she had and would crawl into bed with just about anyone male or female. If both of his kids didn't have his eyes and nose, he'd have had their DNA tested. When they first married, Brittany had taken her vows seriously and tried her best to limit herself to only his bed; he didn't discover that she'd begun steadily cheating on him until Christy was four and in preschool and no longer needed her mommy at her home with her. That was when he caught her in the bed with her first lover, her physical trainer. He had heard noises that were loud and disturbing when he came home during lunch break only to find her being spanked and having anal sex with him.

He had grounds to divorce her then, and he knew his political career could have probably survive the shock of his divorcing her, but he didn't intend on doing so. For one thing, his children loved their mother and she loved them, and he didn't want to upset kids by separating them from their mother. Because, no way in hell would he share custody with them with her if they divorced. The other reason he remained married to her was because he benefited politically and financially from being married to Brittany. He was certain to gain sympathy votes for 'poor Hunter, he does his best considering who he is married to. He is a committed guy to his family, not willing to give up and divorce.' type of thing; plus, he often used her to close a deal or pay a favor. Brittany was always willing to drop her drawers and lie down with anyone he asked her to and would allow him to watch and videotape it for blackmail if he was inclined to.

Because of her whorish behavior, he had to go elsewhere to satisfy his own sexual needs. No way, would he ever stick his penis in her again, not after some of the vermin she'd been under and over. He wouldn't even French kiss her, her mouth had seen as much action as both of her wholes. He could had affairs with several willing women in town single or married if he had wanted to, but a wise man never pooped in his own nest. No, he was smarter than that and made sure he had affairs with women that were from another town, and he never had a problem with finding a woman or man when he needed one for release.

His unregistered cell phone that he destroyed and purchased a replacement every two weeks, distinguished from the other office lines and his personal cell by its distinctive tone, began to ring. After glancing at the door to make sure it was closed, Hunter answered his phone. "Yes." He never identified himself just in case the conversation was being tapped or recorded, especially on his cellular phone, but he had the habit of doing this on landlines now, too.

"There was a problem with the latest shipment," a voice he recognized told him.

"Will this problem create a delay in getting it out on time?"

"I do believe so, I think it will behoove you to come and see the extent of the problem."

Hunter cursed to himself; he had to reschedule his golf game already because of the rain. Now he had to drive almost to Findlay, Ohio. But he that Brody Weston was more than a capable man, and he wouldn't have said Hunter was needed to see to the problem personally if it wasn't something critical. "I'll take an early lunch break." He told his right hand man.

"Meet me at the barn," said Weston. "I'll be inside waiting on your arrival."

After ending the call, Hunter notified his secretary that he was going out for a business luncheon with his best friend who was visiting from Westerville. On his way toward the meeting site, his mind began to think of what have could have gone wrong. As long as there hadn't been a successful escape, everything would be all right, and Brody would have told him immediately if that had happened. That kind of news meant notifying their superior, and Hunter wouldn't have been the first person he called. But other problems sometimes came up, situations that had to be handled immediately before the situation became more complicated.

An hour later, Hunter drove up at the meeting site and entered to see what the problem was and was upset to see the lost of a valuable asset. "What in the hell happened here?"

"Overdose," Brody Weston answered matter of factly.

Hunter didn't have to guess what had happened, but the mayor bitterrly thought. "GHB?"

"Yes."

"Puckerman." Hunter guessed and Weston didn't contradict him, and Clarington sighed. "Mr. Puckerman is becoming a huge problem." This wasn't the first time Puck had dosed one of the girls with GHB. The sick bastard preferred them unconscious when he raped them. Hunter guessed it made him feel as if he was not committing a crime. Or maybe he thought that if they didn't fight or say no, then it wasn't rape. Whatever his reasoning, this was the second time he'd killed one of the girls with GHB. Having sex with the merchandise was one thing, but when he started cutting into the profits, that was something all together more serious.

Weston grunted. "Puckerman has always been a problem. The idio is way more trouble than he's ever been worth."

"I can't disagree with you on that fact."

"Want me to arrange something so we can eliminate this problem?"

"I am afraid you are going to have to. Puck's fun and games are costing us too much money to allow this behavior to slide and continue."

Brody let of a breath of relief. He never liked Noah Puckerman, and he didn't like working with goof ups, and Puck was a Class A-screwup. On the other hand, it was a pleasure working with a man like Hunter Clarington. He was cool SOB who never broke a sweat, and handled everything with a lack of emotion. It was if he had ice instead of blood in his veins. Brody pointed to the body on the ground. "What do you want me to do with this? Bury it or dump it?

Hunter considered. "How long has she been dead?"

"I found out about her almost four hours agp."

"Then, you should wait another couple of hours to be sure, before dumping the corpse." The chemical composition of GHB took six to break down, and after six hours, it was untraceable unless a body was found and tests were run within that time limit. After that time frame, the authorities might suspect GHB, but there was no way that they could legally prove it.

"Any preferences to a particular dump site?"

"I don't care where as long as there is no connection to us."

Weston thought about it before deciding. "I think I'll take her to Miami County, then, when she's found, they'll think she's just one of the migrant workers who come and go during harvesting season, and no one will try very hard to identify her." He glanced up at the clouds and appreciated the steady rain. "The rainy weather will help by washing away any trace evidence left and keeping the people who would normally be out and about indoors, even if the local law enforcement decide to make an effort in identifying who dropped her off and her cause of death."

"That's a good idea." Hunter sighed, looking down at the tiny bundle. Death didn't just make a body still; it reduced it to a lump, devoid of any spiritual life source that animated a person as if a person's soul seethed through his or her muscles. He never could understand how anyone could mistake a death person for someon who was sleeping, because the whole aspect of body was different. Alive, the girl had been a Latina beauty who was flawless and would have brought the money rolling in. Dead, she was worth nothing and meant nothing to him.

"I'll call Remington, let him know what happened, and what we're doing about Puckerman."

Hunter didn't look forward to the phone call, because he hated to admit when he'd made a huge mistake, and it had been his decision to hire Puckerman had been his. The man was a lowlife who couldn't keep a job, and he knew how to keep secrets. So, he thought he could trust him with this easy job. Well, it was mistake that would soon be taken care of. Puck had raped and overdosed his last girl with GHB.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Enough of Hunter's POV back to Mercy Ann Jones and her crazy life. This chapter is just absurd and not dark and depressing, so hopefully there will be a little insanity to make you smile while reading. Thanks for your continual support, remember I own none of this, and please forgive all of my mistakes. And yes, I am thrift queen like Mercy in this chapter, and I don't like parting from my money like her which is a shame.**

Chapter Four

Mercy stood in the rain underneath her umbrella and thought that she must be hallucinating. Surely, noone would be trying to rent the tiny and need of some serious upgrades home on Lincoln Avenue that was her last option. The paint on the house was peeling off, and the yard was a hot mess. There were a couple of ugly overgrown shrubs that desperately needed trimming, lawn's grass came up to her knees, was filled with weeds, and obviously hadn't been mowed all summer. And the icing on the cake was that the it had a sagging roof over the front porch. The screen door was torn loose from the frame on one side, and one of windows in the front of the house had a giant crack. On the plus side, the small backyard was fenced. She tried hard to find more plusses, but she came up with a blank. The only positive it had was that it was available.

"If you will wait a minute until I fiind the key, we can get out of this rain and go inside." The owner, Mrs. Del Monico, said as she looked inside her supersized purse that looked as if she carried a brick around in it for security. Mrs. Del Monico was shorter than Mercy and that was a feat not many people were. She was very fat, and her hair made her appear even bigger the way she had it styled or maybe it grew that way in a huge white afro that she didn't think white people could grow. She huffed as she made her way up the broken driveway, avoiding one section that was completely gone.

"It's not a fancy place like the newer homes that are being built." She warned Mercy, and Mercy wondered why she thought that the warning was necessary. "There is only a great room, kitchen, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. When I lived here with my husband Jerry, we raised two kids here without any problems. When Jerry passed on, my girls bought me a triple wide mobile home with four bedrooms and two baths that is near my oldest daughter's place. I help Kendra look after her triplets they are some energetic little boys."

The porch with its sagging roof and wet and rotted out wood seemed to give a little more under Mrs. Del Monico's weight, and Mercy being no lightweight herself had enough sense to not get on the porch with her. She also hung back, in case she was needed to go for help in case Mrs. Del Monico fell through the rotting wood. But, the elderly lady reached the door without any problems and battled with the stubborn lock. Finally, she was able to open the door and Mercy joined her own the porch after witnessing this accomplishment. "This is it. I had it cleaned up after the last bunch was evicted for not paying the rent, so you don't have to worry about filth or bugs."

To Mercy's shock, the house was clean and bug and rodent free. When she stepped in she noticed a musty smell, but it was the odor of emptiness, not of trash. The rooms were quite small, and the kitchen was so small that it would be hard to fit a small table and two chairs in it. Mercy didn't know how the kitchen held what would have been a family of four. The floors were all linoleum that was cracked in several places as well as disclored, but she could cover the cracked and disclored areas with area rugs. The one and only bathroom was a cramped space, too, and at some point the bathtub had been replaced with a beige fiberglass tub and shower unit that didn't match the white toilet and sink. She would use a good shower curtain to hide the fact that the the tub didn't match the rest of the bathroom. There was also a small space heater attached to the light on the ceiling.

Mercy didn't like the house. She had grown up in a nice size house and had stayed in a dorm on campus and shared an apartment when she went to graduate school. She had never stayed in something so shabby, but she realized that with some improvements she could make the ugly house a cozy home. As she walked through the rooms again, she pictured in her mind how the rooms would look with artwork on the walls, big lamps, and window treatments along with quality furniture. One major drawback to the house was it didn't have central air, and she would have to buy air-conditioners for the four rooms with windows. She could sell the air conditioners when she moved, but she also need to purchase different types of rugs for the floors, kitchen appliances, a dinette set, a bedroom set for her guest room, and a sectional sofa for the living room with end tables. She was grateful that when she moved from her college apartment, she had brought her bedroom furniture to Lima, and her mom put her old bedroom furniture into the attic. However, that is all that she had bought for her apartment that had come furnished with everything else. She added up all the expenses in her head and came up with a figure close to $6,000 to get the house liveable.

That was a lot of money that she would be putting in a rental property that she wouldn't even own. With her salary, the money wasn't the problem. It was just that she had never had spent such a large amount of money at one time in her life. The thought of spending that amount alone made her stomach clench. She could either spend the money, or she could go back to her mother's house and live there with her auntie until they grew old and died, and then she would be there...alone.

"I think that I may be willing to take it." She said aloud saying the words before she could really think things through. It sounded like the words were coming from someone else or some other entity was using her voice to say the words.

Mrs. Del Monico's couldn't believe that a college educated lady like Mercy Jones would be willing to rent the house. "Did I hear you correctly? I didn't think that you would because you don't seem like the kind who would stay in this neighborhood. This used to be a good family neighborhood, but when meth labs start springing up in nearby Lassister Drive, the neighborhood went downhill with people moving out and younger people moving in for the cheap rent. The new chief of police has made sure all those labs were closed down, so there is no more of that drama happening."

Mercy could understand her astonishment. Just yesterday she wouldn't have imagined living in the little cottage, but no matter how desperate she was for a place to stay, she wasn't stupid. She put her hands on her hips and put on her best librarian's face. "The front porch as well as several other areas in the house are in badly need of repair. I'll handle it for you, if you like, if you'll take the amount of the repairs in lieu of the same amount of rent."

Mrs. Del Monico crossed her arms and looked as if she was going to say no way Jose. "Why would I do that?"

"I know you would be temporarily out of ready cash, but just think about it, in the long run your property will become more valuable, and you will be able to increase the amount you charge for rent the next time, you rent the house." Mercy explained hoping Mrs. Del Monico was farsighted an able to see long term benefits of earning more money for her propety rather than only thinking of the little rent money she was currently asking for. Mercy had no idea how much the repairs would cost, but the rent was just two hundred dollars a month, but Mrs. Del Monico could be looking at several months without any rent income. It wasn't likely she would find another renter soon though, and she would be missing out on the income if Mercy wouldn't rent the property anyways.

"I don't think, so. Renting this house is the only income I have, and I don't think I would be able to survive without the extra money for that amount of time."

Mercy thought of that and had another idea in case Mrs. Del Monico didn't accept her first offer. "How about if I paid you the rent every other month? Do you think you could handle that? I would pay for all the repairs now, and I would not pay you any rent every other month until I regained my money. Or you could just pay for the repairs yourself and raise the rent."

Mrs Del Monico quickly vetoed the last suggestion. "I just don't have that kind of money to fix up the house or I would have done it a long time ago. I guess we can do it your way, but I want all of this in writing. I will also need the first month's rent; then, we will start that every month arrangement. You do know that none of the utilities are included in the rent."

For $200 a month, Mercy wasn't crazy enough to think that they were. She gave Mrs. Del Monico a smile, and offered her hand to shake the elderly ladies' hand, and said "that it was a deal."

* * *

"Don't you think that it is kind of small?" Aunt Jo questioned as she and Mercy's mother, Marcia looked over Mercy's new home.

"It's just the right size for a single woman," Marcia said before adding, "it desperately needs a coat of paint or aluminum siding, and some nice curtains will make it more appealling to the external eye. And you have to consider the fact that she is not going to live here that long. I have been praying for my darling daughter to meet the man God has for her, and I know she will find him in no time at all. Plus, I have lots of old furniture and decorations in the attic, and Mercy, honey, if you want any of it, just take it." Marcia looked around the tiny house. "Just what sort of plans do you have to turn this house into a home?" she asked skeptically, as if she couldn't think of anything that would help the appearance of the house.

"I just want to make it comfortable," Mercy replied. "It's way too small to try for anything elaborate. You know I was thinking of buying a sectional sofa with a matching afghan thrown across one recliner, that sort of thing for the great room."

"Whatver," Aunt Jo muttered. "Only afghan I ever saw was the stupidest dog in the world who who wouldn't stay put and didn't know to come inside out of the rain."

They all began laughing because they knew that she had made that story up. Aunt Jo's sense of humor tended to be ridiculous, and both Mercy and her mother enjoyed the crazy things she would say.

"You _will_ most definitely need to get a dog." Marcia said adamantly as she looked around. "Or burglar bars on the windows and an alarm system."

Mercy already thought about her budget, and she didn't want to include the extra thousand she would need to include to install burglar bars and an alarm system. Mercy decided to compromise with her mother, "I will start looking for a dog ASAP." A dog would be good company because she had never lived alone before. A dog would provide her with some compainionship and help deter others from trying to break in her house when she was a work. She hadn't had a pet in over eight years since their family pet Mac had died. Her father had named him after General Douglas MacArthur.

"When do you think you'll be ready to move in?" Her Aunt Jo asked.

"I have no idea." Mercy looked around and tried to imagine how long it would take to get the house up to scratch. "I have to have the utilities turned on, air conditioners purchased and installed, repairs made. And I will have to install and buy new kitchen appliances and dishes, shop for furniture, towels, and rugs, put up curtains, and paint. It definitely needs a new coat of paint both inside and outside."

"A responsible and reputable landlady would have repainted after the last tenants left before showing the property." Her mother said with a look of disdain on her face.

"Mom, the rent is only $200 a month. I don't believe home improvements including a new paint job comes with the deal."

"I heard Ricky Nelson was taking paint jobs on the weekends for extra money. You know his wife Aphasia is pregnant with another baby and rumor is that she has to sleep in a bed filled with dollar bills or she might cut him," Aunt Jo said before adding, "I'll call his mother in law tonight and see if he would be able to do this for you."

Mercy could envision another large deduction from her shrinking checking balance. "I was going to do all the painting by myself."

"You have never painted anything before not even your finger and toe nails," Aunt Jo said firmly. "Besides you are going to be very busy."

"Of course, I am going to be busy, but I will still have the time to …"

"Oh, no, you won't, Mercy, you my dear are going to be busy."

"What Jo means is that we think you need to see a fashion and beauty consultant and begin your makeover immediately."

Mercy gazed at both of them trying to hide her smile. "And just where am I going to find one of those? And why do you think that I need someone other than you two to tell me how I want to look. You know I love to research, and I have already been looking in magazines and thinking about my new look. I want Carmen to perm my hair and maybe put in some highlights as well as cut it in some type of style, and I am going buy some cosmetics.."

Both Marcia and Joanna shook their heads before Aunt Jo interrupted, "That won't cut it."

"Why not?"

Marcia replied before Jo could really tell Mercy some home truths. "Darling, if you are committed to doing this, then you must do it right. Yes, we can give you advice on getting a different hairstyle and you can start wearing some makeup, but what you need is _style_ a look that draws men's eyes toward you. You need to have an enticing presence, something that will turn heads and make men give you a second or third look. It's how you present yourself as much as anything else, and you aren't going to find that in magazines or makeup."

"But, I'm already going to be spending so much money on moving into this house. I don't want to spend so much on a beauty consultant."

"Don't be so cheap. Do you think General Eisenhower would have been successful at Normandy if he'd said, 'Wait, we're spending too much money; let's only send half as many ships?' You have been a good steward of your money for all these years, but what good is having all that money if you are never going to use it? It's not as if you are going to spend all the money you've saved. I bet you won't even have to touch your savings account. I know you have enough in your checking account to take care of all your needs."

Mercy had earned her money, and she didn't want to part with it foolishly. "How about we try it my way, and if I am failure, then I will think about hiring someone to help me out."

"As long as you don't let Carmen do anything to your hair just yet." Aunt Jo warned. "The damage could be irreversible and you will have to be spending even more money on wigs."

"But, Carmen does both of your hair!" Mercy said shocked that her aunt would say this.

"I have enough brain cells in my head to not let her near my head with chemicals. I have personally witnessed her doings things in that hair salon that would make your blood run cold."

Mercy had a sudden vision of trying to attract a man with a bald head because all of her hair had fallen out due to Carmen overprocessing her hair. Maybe she should go to one of the bigger cities and have her hair done, but that would mean a trip every month for maintenance, and even more money. Carmen might not be the best hair stylist, but she was very inexpensive. On the other hand Carmen might be inexpensive, but was she worth losing her hair over.

"Don't forget Normandy," she muttered to herself. Her father had used these words often. He was a history buff and loved to study all wars and battles. He wrote historical fiction books for children when he was younger, and that is how her parents initially met in college in the English department. Her father was pursuing his masters in writing, and her mother had been in a class that he was a teacher's assistant in. He had waited until the quarter had been over before approaching her and asking her on a date, and the rest was history.

She couldn't help but love books because reading was something that was modeled at home, and her father would often use her as inspiration for several of his characters in his books. Her father retired from writing when he developed carpal tunnel syndrome. He began to devote his time to directing the church choir and his work as a city councilman. However, he was still an effective storyteller, and she would always remember him telling her how he convinced her mother to marry a penniless aspiring author when with her looks and intellect, she could have married any man she desired.

Mercy pushed the thoughts of her father out of her head. Because as her mother always told her, she was stubborn just like he was. And she was stubborn enough to stop by the drugstore on the way home and spend an astonishing amount on a small bag of makeup. Mascara, contour, eyeshadow, blush, lip liner, foundation, and lipstick barely amounted to anything in weight, but she end up paying $50 for the stuff. This project of hers was turning into a real money pit.

She also spent more time researching the beauty magazines, and she chose one that seemed to give the most instruction on makeup application. She watched several YouTube videos as well to make sure that she was applying the makeup correctly. She thought as she put on the makeup that most girls learn to do this in their teens and because she was blessed with flawless skin, she never worried about makeup at all even though a couple years later her sister Jane was the makeup queen.

When she told her mother earlier about asking Jane to help with her makeover, her mother told her not to do so because Jane had staked out being the pretty one when Mercy was always the smart one. Her mom didn't think her sister would be ready to relinquish her domain as being the stylish beautiful nee Jones sister when that was the only thing she was better than her sister at being. Mercy was almost the perfect child, and Jane was a typical girl with typical problems, and she hadn't inherited her mother's figure, so her father didn't care what she wore. Being her father's baby girl, allowed Jane to get away with murder.

"Jane has never felt as intelligent as you because she only finished high school while you have a masters degree." Her mother explained, and Mercy remembered Jane's decision to try to make it as singer/actress on Broadway and after only getting roles in the chorus and a brief appearance on a television show that was cancelled after she appeared in it, she had come home and decided to go to college in Columbus, but she ended up married to her high school sweetheart Anthony Rashad who had never fallen out of love with her and had become a sports reporter in Columbus after he had graduated from Ohio State University.

Now, Mercedes looked at her reflection in her mirror and wanted to cry. Jane never had to worry about not being the pretty one because she, Mercy Jones, looked like a clown high on crack. She told her mother this after washing her face and coming back downstairs giving up on learning how to do her makeup perfectly.

"That is why we told you to hire a beauty consultant. We don't have the same complexion and you take after your father in looks and me in weight and Jane takes after me in looks but she inherited her father's shape. We can't exchange makeup or makeup tips with you because Jo could be my twin if I was forty pounds lighter."

"I am going to have to go to a department store in Columbus and let them do my colors and my makeup." Mercy finally capitulated.

"Hold your horses," said Aunt Jo, "we have actually thought of someone who could help you right here in Lima."

"Here in Lima? Who in the world do you two know could help me?" The questions continued to roll of Mercy's tongue. "Did someone new move into town?"

"Well, no" Aunt Jo began before clearing her throat and continuing, "We think Cooper Anderson could help you out tremendously."

"Cooper Anderson. Blaine Anderson's older brother the actor?" Mercy looked at them as if they had lost their minds. "Aunt Jo, just because a man is homosexual, it does not mean that he interested or qualified in being a consultant on women's beauty. Especially a black plus size woman when he is a white skinny man. Besides, Blaine has never told me that Cooper was gay, and I don't know if he is gay in the first place. I would hate to upset him by asking to do this if he isn't gay and into being a stylist."

Cooper Anderson was several years older than she, at least in his early forties, and was a very stylish and handsome man. He had left Westerville to become an actor and had come back to Lima when his mother divorced his father and decided to live in Lima after her husband had disinherited Blaine for being gay and marrying Kurt Hummel. His doting mother would always brag on her son's accomplishments and when he visited her in Lima, he would also visit McKinley High, where her sister had attended school at the time. Jane had decided to pursue acting full time because of how Cooper had painted life in the theater. Cooper never went back to the stage after his mother's untimely death from cancer, and he lived in alone in her old Victorian house on the edge of town.

"Oh, I think since his mother's death, he has embraced being 'out'," her mom insisted. "The man has opened an antique and decorator store in Findlay. How many single straight men with no children do this? And how many straight men know what color mauve is? At Easter, Cooper ran into me as I was leaving the grocery store with the Hawaiian rolls that I had forgotten to buy which goes so well the ham, and he told me how I looked sensational in mauve; I don't know if you remember, but that's what color my dress was this year. And he said this in front of several people, so he's out."

"I don't know if him sayiing you look sensational in mauve in front of people makes him gay," Aunt Jo said looking at her sister as if she had lost her mind. "I don't believe that mauve can be used as a good gay test. What if a man's wife or girlfriend asked him to look at paint samples from Sherman Williams? He would be exposed to mauve. Now if you want a color that would be a real good indicator of whether or not a man is gay, then you should ask him about _puce_."

"Aunt Jo, I would never ask him if he knew what color puce was!"

"Well, you could just outright asking him if he's out. Since gay marriage is legalized and he is already estranged from his father for going to Broadway in the first place, I don't think he would care if you asked him if he was open about his sexuality."

"I won't ask him because it is nosey and rude. We are getting off the subject that we should be discussing here," Mercy said while rubbing her head to prevent her Aunt Jo from giving her a headache. "Even if he is gay…"

Before she could finish her statement, her mom and aunt butted in confidently with "he is."

"Until he tells me he is I am not going to assume anything. He could be bisexual for all we know or pansexual whatever the new terminology is. That still doesn't mean that Cooper knows anything about fashion and makeup for black women."

"He was in the theatrical world, of course he knows about makeup. Everyone in the shows wear makeup, gay or not. Some of the off Broadway productions that he was in required everybody to do more than one job, and he applied makeup on his black co-stars. Besides, I have already called him and he assures me that he can you give you all the help you need." Marcia said. Her mother ignored her groan and continued. "Now, don't you worry. He was as nice as could be, and assured me that he would be happy to help another Jones realize her potential. He said to call him whenever you are ready."

"I don't think I can." Mercy said shaking her head mortified that her mother would do such a thing. Her Aunt Jo would definitely have done it, but her mother heck no.

"You need to look in the mirror. You didn't get your earlier efforts completely off your face, I wanted to tell you earlier, but you looked heartbroken enough." Her Aunt Jo told her turning her to face the mirror where Mercy could see her raccoon eyes and shudder at revulsion at her still partially remaining mascara that made her still look like a potential child's nightmare of a demented clown taking off her makeup.

"I will call him on tomorrow." Mercedes said shaking her head in resignation.

"Don't wait darling, you really need to call him now," her mother suggested.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: This is just mostly Sam and Mercedes irritating each other the saying Strange Bedfellows comes to mind. No they will not be sharing a bed, not that much drama. Thanks for all the reviews and love as always. Also, I own nothing about this story, so if you don't like it, it's not my fault LOL. I just love putting Samcedes in my favorite stories from decades ago. It is like I get to share an old friend with new friends. Please forgive all errors, sometimes I type faster than I think!**

Chapter Five

Mercy was an internal hot mess. Having set up an appointment with Cooper Anderson had been nerve-wracking, even though he was just as polite and well-mannered as her mother had said he had been with her. She was not only worried that he was offended, although if he was, he had hidden it very well, but also there was something embarrassing in having to ask a man, no matter how successful he had been on Broadway, with help with something as simple as applying makeup. She couldn't understand where she had gone wrong. It wasn't like it took a degree in cosmetology to apply makeup. Maybe the fact that she couldn't successfully apply makeup was an indicator of her failure as a woman. No wonder she couldn't even get a husband, she couldn't even master the art of applying cosmetics to her face.

Did she even want a husband who was unable to see the real her? What kind of man treated a woman better just because she looked like a person on a magazine and not a flesh and blood everyday woman?

However, she had tried to attract men with being just herself, and what had she gained by being plain Jane? Nothing, not a darn thing. If she needed to turn herself into a fashion plate with the face to match in order to get what she wanted in life, then she was going to have to get over her pride and accept all the help she could get.

Waking up every morning aware of how unattractive she had been in her standard work apparel had suddenly made her stop setting out her clothes a day in advance. She didn't even want to get up most mornings knowing that she didn't have the clothes that would show the Mercy she wanted to show the world. She had went to the back of her closet and found her jeans and pants. She had never worn pants to work, and she found a pair of black pants that looked professional enough. She decided that although her blouses were all white and similar, she could tuck the blouse inside her pants and wear her black pumps instead of her usual loafers.

After finally getting ready and risking being late for work, she ran downstairs without even checking her reflection in the mirror. She grabbed her purse and headed towards the door knowing she didn't have time for breakfast.

Before she could make it to door, she heard her Aunt Jo make a hmph sound. "How do I look?" she asked her aunt noticing that her mother had left the kitchen and came out to stare at her daughter.

"You look really nice Mercy." Her mother said looking at her daughter from front to back. "And those pants show off the nice shape of your butt."

Mercy almost melted to the floor in embarrassment. She had forgotten about how big her butt was and was not ready for people to look it and comment on it all day. She was now very self-conscious, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to turn around all day. She looked at her watch and knew she didn't have any time to go back up and change. "Mom, why did you have to mention my big old butt?"

Her mother looked at her with a wry grin. "Girl, women are paying for a butt like yours. If I remember correctly, men are quite partial to big booty girls. See if you can remember to twist when you walk to draw eyes to it."

"Twist," she said appalled that her mother was telling her to walk seductively. That was something she would expect from her Aunt Joanna not her mother.

Marcia couldn't believe her daughter didn't know how to twist when she she walk. She began to demonstrate the movement rocking her own ample behind side to side in a swaying motion that drew attention to her own butt.

The movements her mother was making was so seductive that Mercy was shocked to her core. Her church going no nonsense English teacher mother was swaying her hips like she had been doing so her entire life, and Mercy had never seen her walk this way before.

"Don't overdo it or you will look like a stripper in need of a pole or someone you have to pay for the pleasure of her company, you know a lady of the streets." Aunt Jo added her two cents to the conversation.

That comment was all that Mercy could tolerate, so she gave some excuse about being late for work and hightailed it out of the house.

Mercy had barely made it into work before she noticed a police car drive up behind her and Chief Evans getting out of it. He was not on her list of favorite people, and she really could do without his presence today. She tried to angle her body away from the door, so he couldn't see her butt, not that she thought he was looking at it anyway. He was too busy looking at her face in exasperation.

"You are late." He said looking at his watch.

Mercy had checked the clock in her Explorer to make sure wasn't late, but she double-checked her Fitbit and saw it still had 8:59. "I don't think so, it's not even nine yet, so I am actually on time."

"But, you are always here around eight thirty. Today, you weren't so that means you are late."

Mercy was shocked that he knew what time she was usually at work. Had he been surveilling her? "How in the world do you know the time that I usually come to work?" She asked thinking the one time she had almost been late, someone the chief of police out of everyone, had to be there waiting on her to arrive. He had continued to walk up on her as he spoke once again all up in her personal space as if he was trying to intimidate her. She felt harassed and embarrassed. She tried to squeeze through the door to get away from him.

"I know what time you get to work because the lights inside the library are always on when I drive past."

This meant that she always beat him to work since they literally worked in walking distance from each other. She tried not to smirk before asking him, "Is there a reason why you needed to see me before the library is officially open?"

"Well," he drawled out the word in a Southern way. "I was unable to access the virtual library from home last night. I think you must have given me the wrong password or something because it wouldn't open."

Mercy pondered had she been so distracted by him and so ready for him to leave that she had written the wrong password down. She seriously doubted this. He was a typical man blaming his failure to get onto the website on her the little woman. Chauvinist Southern swine, she thought before remembering that the same thing had happened to other patrons. "If you were having problems opening the page, then you probably needed to upgrade your web browser."

Sam Evans looked at her as if she was speaking a foreign language. "Your internet browser...you know like Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome, if you have Apple maybe Safari. How old is your system?"

Sam looked at her trying to think how old it was and answered, "I don't know maybe two or three years old."

"Have you upgraded your web browser since you purchased it?" Mercy already knew the answer to this question. She would love to leave him, so he could use his policing skills to figure out and solve the problem on his own, but she was a public servant like him, and it was her job to serve the public no matter how aggravating the public could be. "Do you have a desktop computer, laptop, or tablet?" She would bet on a laptop. His hands were too big for a tablet, and he seemed the type that would want to move his computing device around with him.

"I have a laptop."

She internally gave herself a high five for her assumption being correct. "I don't mind showing you how to upgrade your browser, if you have enough memory." She didn't want to let him know that she wasn't questioning his laptop memory but his own to remember to bring it by.

The look that he gave her clued her in that he got her reference, but he smirked at her and told her that his laptop was in the car and strolled back to the city owned vehicle to get the laptop out of the passenger seat.

As Mercy reached over to grab the laptop from him, she told him that he could pick it up at lunch so she could get rid of him. He refused to let go of the laptop and asked her is she was able to perform the upgrade now.

"I could do it now, but I don't want you to have to wait. It could take some time to upgrade it."

"How long are we talking about?"

Mercy didn't want to lie so she tried to divert his attention from the question by asking, "don't you have to be back at work?"

Chief Evans indicated his cell phone and pager on his belt before telling Mercy, "I am never off the clock. Just how long will it take you do this?"

Mercy was already tired of him and wanted him to just leave, so she made up a time that would seem too long for him to wait. "It may take up to an hour."

Sam Evans didn't seemed fazed by her answer, "I'll wait," he said continuing to look into her chocolatey brown eyes.

"Alright, meet me around the front at the door, and I will let you in." Mercy capitulated thinking that it would probably only take a few minutes and then she would have him out of her hair. She stepped inside the building from the side entrance and almost hit him in the nose with door as he continued to follow her. He had to use his arm to stop the door from clocking him on the face.

"I think I will just follow you in this way." He said looking at her to see if she intended for him to get hit in the face with the door.

"You are not allowed to enter the building through this door." Mercy said looking at him not frightened by the expression on his face.

"Why can't I?"

She couldn't believe he was asking this question. There was a sign by the door that plainly said Employees Only. She pointed to the sign and told him, "This entrance is for employees only. You are not an employee, therefore you are not allowed to use this door."

"What the hell...I am a city employee just like you."

"But you aren't a library employee, and that is all that really matters."

"What will it hurt if I come in through this door with you?" He asked letting his impatience show.

"I don't break the rules as a law enforcer, you should be thanking me for this fact. So go to the front door." Mercy said not bothering to be moved from her position. She wondered if he would try to bulldoze past her as he eyed her, but common sense must have prevailed and he turned around and stormed toward the front of the building as she heard him drop the F bomb.

She couldn't believe he just basically cursed her out for following the rules, maybe he wasn't cursing her because he didn't say F you, but he did say F this, and she was appalled. A thunderous banging on the front door broke her out of her astonishment. That man had hightailed it to the front in his fit of rage. Muttering to herself that she would take her time to open the door just to get back at him from being so beastly and uncouth.

"What took you so long in coming to open the door?" He asked wondering why he had to knock when she knew he was out there waiting for her.

"I was frozen in shock from your unacceptable language. Maybe hanging around criminals all the time has made you forget what is socially acceptable."

"You are way too young to be talking like an elderly church lady. You can't tell me you don't listen to music or watch movies with that kind of language."

"It doesn't matter what I watch or listen to. I thought men raised in the South were above that kind of behavior. I am sure it must have been something wrong in your upbringing to think that it's okay to vent your displeasure of the situation like you did."

"Are you trying to insult my mother?" It took him a few seconds, but he got the gist of what she was saying.

"I don't think, so. She may have tried to teach you how to be a gentleman, but knowing you, you ignored everything she tried to teach you."

"Oh, after two conversations with me, you think you have me figured out, don't you? Well, I am sorry that I let my tongue slip and cursed in your presence. I really thought you had already headed inside to unlock the door, or I wouldn't have been so loud with my reaction."

Mercy didn't want to continue this conversation with him, so she accepted his apology and sat down and began to work on his laptop after he had turned it on and entered his password and handed it over to her. She showed him how to click on the update bar and then allowed the technology to do the rest on its on.

"That's all you had to so?" Chief Evans looked at his watch noticing that it hadn't taken long at all.

"Yes, and you should do this regularly. Sometimes you will get a message saying to upgrade your browser, but if you don't, you need to upgrade it at least every nine to twelve months."

"You are really good at this, aren't you?"

"I have a lot of patrons who have had similar problems since we began the virtual library, so I have lots of practice troubleshooting issues."

"So, you must know a lot about computers," he said as he sat down beside her much too close as his MO obviously dictated him to do so.

"No, I am no computer scientist. But I do have a lot of experience with technology. I can hook up systems, navigate the web, install software and uninstall programs, but I am no programmer or code writer. I have to teach basic lessons on web surfing, online research, and how to use Microsoft Office Suite programs, so I try to stay up to date."

"We have only have five computers at the precinct. The detectives, myself, and the desk sergeant are the only ones with computers. The local beat cops have to get their information from those of us with computers."

"Well, you really don't have a lot crime that requires intensive computer use, do you?"

"Not since I have been here. There have been some burglaries, assaults, drunk driving, domestic abuse, and other run of the mill problems but no serial killers, fugitive apprehensions, or other crimes that would require extensive computer use."

A part of Mercy was just as ratchet as her Aunt Jo, and she wanted to know who was having domestic problems. She justified to herself if these couples divorced, she needed to know which men to avoid like the plague. She only wanted to know for self-preservation, she thought trying to justify her nosiness. She didn't ask him just in case he might tell her and then she would probably repeat it to her mom and aunt because she wouldn't be able to help herself. While she was thinking these thoughts, she could have sworn he had moved closer to her.

"Don't you think that you are sitting a little too close to me?" She asked him noticing that he was physically closer to her than he had been when they initially sat down.

"Nope, I am not even touching you," he said looking between them seeing at least an inch of space between them.

"I know you are not touching me, but I think that you are crowding me."

"Crowding you, what the freak is that; is this some rule you northerners have that I am not familiar with?"

"Chief Evans you are a seasoned law enforcement officer, and you can't tell me that you haven't studied body language to determine whether or not a person of interest is lying to you or hiding something. I am sure I read somewhere that the police use this tactic of crowding a person to intimidate a person of interest by being all up in a suspect's personal space."

"Are you kidding me? If I wanted to intimidate anyone then I would use my nine millimeter to do so. I am all about being direct and not using subliminal messages when I truly want to use intimidation tactics on anyone."

Mercy was not surprised that he mentioned the phallic symbol of his gun. Typical man always having to brag about the size of their weapon. She wanted to roll her eyes at him but he already rolled his eyes at her when she said he was sitting too close to her.

A light when off in her head. Chief Evans was a man, and the conversation she had with her mom and Aunt Jo about the gay test resonated in her brain. Could she give him the mauve/puce test? Or would she want to continue to have any sort of conversation with him. She should just finish letting his browser update and ignore him, but before she could stop herself, she was asking, "Do you have any idea what color mauve is?"

Chief Evans couldn't suppress his look of alarm when he heard asking this off the wall question. He began to look at her if she had lost her mind. "Why are you asking me this?"

"No reason just curious. Do you know the color?"

"Why do you think that I know what color mauve is?"

"I don't know that is why I am asking you the question. Can you just answer it?"

"I don't know if I should. It sounds like one of those questions that women ask men to see if they are gay or not. If you are interested in me, why don't you just straight out and ask."

"I am not interested in you. It was just for somebody else, oh never mind, just pretend that I didn't ask you." Mercy's face was so hot thinking that Sam Evans thought she was interested in his sexuality like wow. She wanted to disappear and make his machine automatically finish updating.

He looked down at her with a smirk on his face and told her, "it's pink." She didn't quite hear him, so she lifted her head and asked what.

"Mauve is just another word for a pinkish color. I heard so much about redecorating with sea foam green and mauve for a guest room so much from my ex-wife, but I thought the color was too pink and feminine for male guests."

Who would have thought it, but Aunt Jo had been right and her mother wrong. That didn't happen often, but in this instance, she couldn't wait to go home and tell her mother, but she had to make sure Aunt Jo was completely right before reporting to them. "How about the color puce?"

"What puke?" He asked looking at her if she had lost her mind again.

"No, puce. P-u-c-e," she spelled for further clarification.

"That is a trick question. Who would name a color something that sounds like vomit?"

"No, it's not a trick question. It is an actual color, a nice color in fact."

"Why would anyone want to buy anything that is puce in color. Hey that's a nice new car you have. What color is it? 'Puce' as answer would make people think you are an idiot for buying something in that color."

"Do you actually want to know what the color looks like before you continue in your prejudice against the color based on its name?"

"Why in the world would I want to know what the color looks like. I know all the colors that matter, red, green, black, brown, gray, and blue, and all the other colors that come in the Crayola 24 crayons box. Anything else is not a need to know color."

Mercy didn't listen to his ramblings but went to the reference section and picked up a Merriam Webster dictionary and looked up the word for him and brought the book over to him. He took the dictionary and read the definition. "Dark red."

"Dark red. Who would use that color to describe anything or sell anything. Even if I saw something dark red like a person's hair, I wouldn't say ma'am your puce hair is really pretty. That is ridiculous."

"Whenever I have seen the color it has looked more purplish brown to me. Purple is one of my favorite colors, so I really like the color. I am sure you are person who would rather describe something in more words like a dark red or purplish brown then just saying puce."

"At least people would know what color I am describing. The thief fled with a puce handbag from Kohl's would not help any officer at my precinct apprehend the perp. Who needs a color like that anyway. I want a puce jacket. I want a puce shirt. I already worry about people who drive purple cars, but puce...the only thing the word puce would be good for is a gay test."

Mercy couldn't help but hide her grin and give Aunt Jo credit where credit was due. "But now you know what the color puce is and whenever you see something that is purplish brown or dark red you are going to think to yourself that is puce."

"Sweet Lord Jesus," he said looking at her with frustration written all over his face. "You have given me a headache, and if you tell anybody about this conversation, I will deny it and then bring you to jail, do you understand me?" He narrowed his eyes and looked at her dangerously.

"You could never get me into a jail cell because I am so law-abiding that I wouldn't even let you in the employees' only door. I have never even gotten a traffic citation in my entire life. My parents have always taught me the importance of doing the right thing and obeying the laws of the land. There is no way the mayor would let you get away with arresting the city's library director who has never even jaywalked."

"It's people like you that really need help, it's called having OCD or being a perfectionist, neither is normal," he said before glancing to his laptop screen. When he saw that it was finished with the upgrade, he looked at her with amazement. "I guess you do have one fault Mercy Jones which makes you normal after all."

"And what could that be?" She asked looking at him like she wanted to smack him for his condescending gaze as she shut down and handed him his laptop.

"You lie like the devil. That didn't even take twenty minutes more like fifteen and not the hour that you suggested." He said as he retrieved his laptop and walked out of the library before she could even think of a comeback.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N Finally in this chapter, we will get to know more about Sam (it's freaky sometimes how whoknowstv knows what is coming up next) and learn why he is so crazy acting in this AU world. We also find out how Santana's death begins to further drive along the story's plot. And we begin Mercy's transformation as well. Thanks for all of those who are reading and enjoying this story. Remember I own nothing, and please forgive all my mistakes; that last chapter had several, so I went back and fixed a few of them.**

Chapter Six

Sam Evans couldn't keep the huge smile from his face as he put his laptop in his car and started to leave the library. Mercy Jones was turning out to be a whole lot of fun because she didn't back down from him, flirt with him, or had any fear of his position as chief of police. He loved irritating her. His mother would tell him that he was acting like he was in grade school pulling the ponytails or snapping the bras of the girls he liked. Come to think of it, Mercy reminded him of his own mother with the way she tried to tell him what to do or make him "behave." His mom had tried to tame Sam when he was a little boy and still hadn't stopped trying, but since he moved to Lima, he didn't have anyone brave enough to tell him what to do and/or how to do it. He loved his family, but the one reason he didn't want to move from Tennessee had been his mother.

When he had to make the tough decision to move Lima, he had to steel himself, so his mother's tears wouldn't sway him. "Sammy, why Lima? You can get a job right here in Tennessee or go back to law school and join your father in the family firm." She had told him. But after his divorce and losing another brother in blue on the murderous streets of Memphis in 2013, his PTSD had gotten worse. His hand was injured when he tried to save his friend Finn Hudson's life during a bombing, and the memories of his friends' blood on his hands still haunted him. Post traumatic stress disorder was no joke, and even though he knew his hand would never be steady enough to be a sniper again, he didn't have the desire to be a training officer at the training academy that his sheriff had recommended. His job with The Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT) and Bomb Squad had been a dangerous job, and he had gotten used to living on adrenaline and didn't think he would be able to bear to see his former team entering and exiting the building while leaving him behind being bored to tears.

One of his best friends from college, Artie Abrams, had grown up in Lima, and Sam had remained in contact with him through the years. With Artie's help, he had graduated with his degree in political science (pre-law) with honors from Vanderbilt. Artie and he then had attended Vanderbilt University Law School together and had plans to practice law together in Nashville at Sam's father's firm. However one night while walking on campus from the library, Sam witnessed his good friend getting stabbed in the back trying to help him keep a jerk from harassing two girls. At that moment, Artie had become a paraplegic before his eyes due to the knife damaging his spinal cord. Sam had stopped the madman from further injuring Artie, and when the attacker lost the machete knife in the battle, the deranged man started to run away. After yelling at the girls to call 911, Sam pursued and restrained the man that he found out later from the police was high on drugs.

Because of this ordeal, Sam realized that he would rather be the one locking up criminals and keeping drugs off the streets than working with his father in corporate law. So, to the dismay of his parents, he dropped out of law school and went to the police academy and later joined the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. Sam knew that being part of law enforcement was in his destiny because he advanced through the ranks at a lightning speed before finding his niche on the SWAT team in Nashville. While Sam had been patrolling the streets and then promoted to SWAT full time in 2004, Artie had been sentenced to life in a wheelchair, but he never quit his studies and passed the bar after interning with Sam's dad. Artie didn't have much love for Nashville because of the memories he still had of the stabbing, and Sam understood when his best friend decided to move back home to Lima.

Later on, Artie had decided to moved to New York to practice law in a place that was more progressive in accepting people with physical disabilities in the workplace. In 2011, Sam had decided to move to Memphis and accept a position as a deputy sheriff in the Shelby County SWAT and Bomb Squad. Sam met and soon married his wife Harmony when he moved there. A few years later and not long after his divorce is when Artie heard the chief of police position was available in his hometown; he had called Sam and urged him to apply. He knew of Sam's need of a new job and a new start. Artie had offered Sam the use of his house that he had inherited from his mother's side of the family from his great uncle who had recently died.

Sam knew that he needed a new job in a new place to help him recover from the tragedies he had experienced. His marriage had ended because his wife couldn't handle the depression, nightmares, and sleeplessness that had accompanied his PTSD. He was a lot better now with the memories of Memphis firmly behind him. One of the best decisions he had made was to take Artie up on his offer. Of course at first, he had been bored to tears in Lima not knowing anyone, but he decided to not only live in the old Victorian house but also buy it from him since Artie had no desire to move back to Lima. He was quite the ladies man in the Big Apple, something he wasn't able to be in Lima because all the girls remembered him being able and a dancing machine from high school. Artie had even started to settle down with a Broadway actress he had been dating on and off for years.

Sam used his free time restoring the house by watching the HGTV channel, YouTube videos, and buying books. Fixing up the house had become a challenge that wore him out each night and made sleep come with ease. Fixing the house was also therapy for him, and as he finished renovating the house, he embarked on a journey that led him to becoming healed from all his tragic memories and nightmares. He still attended a support group, but he no longer went for peace of mind but as support for others battling PTSD. He shared his story of how at first he was too tired from the work on renovating the house to battle sleeplessness and would fall into in a heavy sleep without taking any drugs. This sleep provided healing for his body because it was not interrupted with nightmares. Getting sleep, going to work, and focusing on others and not himself help him conquer his depression while he was on medication. And eventually his therapist, after a year of his symptoms improving, decided that he no longer the meds.

After Sam was finished with the house, he had to admit to being a little bored with the job with a staff of only thirty-five full time officers. But with the mayor's help, Sam was able to make a positive change in the city of Lima. Crime had gone down, and he had begun to love his adopted city. He really hoped the saying three times the charm was real and after Nashville and Memphis, he needed a peaceful town to call home. He even liked the city council meetings that he was forced to attend. Because he was forced to be there, he began making demands that would get Mercy Jones and the conservative half of the council up in arms. He would use whatever strategy he could to get his way, and those meetings had become the highlight of his time because every time he was able to successfully get his ideas passed through, he got a big kick out it. He was on a roll and was happy when his latest success to force the old farts to embrace change had resulted in the council agreeing to purchase the new guns that his police department needed.

Emma Pillsbury was his secretary at the station who seem to automatically sense his presence. She was always waiting with a cup of coffee for him and his message slips whenever he entered the precinct. He would always thank her for the coffee, but he couldn't understand how she knew what time he would be coming through the door. It wasn't like he came in at the same time every morning. He suspected that she used the GPS and the location feature of his work phone to trace his movements. He hadn't hired Emma. She was the previous chief of police, Figgins' choice of secretary. He had decided to keep her as his own, and he didn't regret his decision. Although she was very quirky, she did her job to the best of her abilities.

As he thumbed through his messages, he noticed that one of the calls he had missed while at the library was from a detective in Miami County. The detective was someone he had become friends with since he moved to Lima. Sam placed the other messages on his desk and returned Ryder Lynn's call.

"Lynn."

"What's up bro?" Sam knew he didn't need to identify himself because even if Ryder didn't look at the phone's caller ID, he knew Ryder would recognize his Southern accent.

"Sam, I am glad you returned my call. We have an unidentified young Latina's body that some kids discovered last night."

Sam couldn't fathom why Ryder was calling him with this information. He didn't have any missing persons that fit the description; Lima didn't have a huge Hispanic population, plus he hadn't had a missing person's report in over five months. "So," Sam said hoping Ryder would catch the hint and explain the reason for the call.

"I need some help with this one. We don't have anything to go on because the rain washed away all trace evidence, and the body has to be autopsied because there are no visual signs of death."

"Could it be an overdose?" Sam asked thinking that wasn't uncommon with those types of death. Too many drugs could cause the heart to fail or breathing to stop.

"That's my guess, but the reason why I am calling you is there have been more and more GHB cases occurring in Findlay, Columbus, Springfield, and Fort Wayne."

"So, you think the girl was raped?"

"We won't know for sure until we get the autopsy report back, but I would guess that she was based on her appearance. She was wearing a short dress with no underwear underneath. I remembered a case in Findlay from a couple of months back with a similar victim."

"Yep, that case sounds similar to what you have in your Jane Doe." Sam said and listened to the silence on the phone. If they had a man who was using GHB to have sex with girls, then he would likely continue. The problem with GHB was that it could be made at people's home through clandestine synthesis. At bars or "rave" parties, GHB was typically sold in liquid form by the capful or "swig" for $5 to $25 per cap.

So, it was easy and cheap to get GHB. Not only was it used in date rapes, but some guys used it for bodybuilding, fat loss, balding, and to reverse the effects of aging. Because the drug was so commonplace, the odds of them finding the perp who had used the drug to rape women were slim because the women who had been drugged woke up with no memory of the rape but with a body that shows sign of sexual activity. Because the victim didn't remember the rape, many cases of date rape went unreported.

Sam grew tired of waiting for Ryder to say something so to fill the silence he asked his friend how could he help. He knew Lynn wasn't calling him to inform him about the body. Sam would have found out about the body when he read the newspapers or police bulletins later that day.

Ryder asked the next question which surprised Sam, "How many GHB cases have you all experienced in Lima?"

"None, we haven't had a single case of rape, date rape, or GHB possession." Sam replied thinking that if it was widespread all over of Ohio why wasn't Lima experiencing any cases. Just because nobody had gotten arrested with GHB didn't mean that nobody was using it, it just meant that nobody had been caught using it or had died from an overdose. "Ryder, I still have no idea where you are going with this." Sam admitted trying to figure out what his buddy wanted.

"Do you go to any bars off duty?" Ryder asked.

"Man, you know I am too old for the bar scene. It is mostly college students that hang out in those places and nobody wants the chief of police showing up at their bar. I am sure Mayor Clarington would be quick to tell me that getting a drink in our bars would be unbecoming conduct or some other type of bull."

"You are a single man with no kids, Sam, of course you are not too old for the bar scene. You should go to bars and count how many older people are there. I was thinking that since you are fairly new to Ohio that it would be easy for you to go in undercover at the bars that we suspect someone might be slipping GHB into drinks."

"Since, I am not a part of the county's sheriff department or the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCI), I would be doing this on my own and off the record." Sam said seeing why Lynn had called him and where he was going with this, he might be buff but he wasn't stupid.

"There is no cause for an official investigation and if you are a single dude out enjoying the single life and witness someone drugging a drink or overhear something, then we can get probable causes and warrants."

"I don't know if this is a good plan. The likelihood of me seeing and/or overhearing something would mean that I was at the right bar at the right time and chances of that are slim."

"I know that, but I don't like having girls just because they are Latina dumped in my county. That young lady was someone's daughter. She was a real beauty, Sam. Seeing someone with so much potential having their life taken before they could live is not something that I want to continue to do. The migrant population are very protective of pretty little girls like the one I found, and no one here can identify her, so I know she probably was dumped here from someone out of county. We need a lead anything that can stop these rapes and deaths."

"Wouldn't the DEA be investigating if it involves GHB? I don't want to get in the crosshairs of their investigation."

"Waiting on those feds to bust this case is a wasted effort. This last girl just really shook me up. I know I keep saying this, but I just got to do something to make sure her death wasn't in vain."

Sam really wanted to help Ryder, but his experience was never in doing undercover work. He was a trained SWAT and Bomb squad member not an undercover narcotics officer. However, working as a police chief had given him a little experience to know what he should be looking for. "How will I know which clubs and/or bars to target?"

"I can get you a list of clubs that we think may have some action that are in Findlay, Columbus, and Fort Wayne."

"Just get me the list." Sam said not verifying that he would do it or not. He thought that Lynn was too young and naive to know that doing this without any plan was probably a waste of time. However, he did feel a surge of the old adrenaline that he used to feel when he was doing SWAT rise up in him at the thought of being a part of the action of taking down the swine that were drugging, raping, and accidentally killing young girls. When the report of the Jane Doe from Miami County came through and Sam saw the beautiful girl taken before her time, he knew that he would do whatever it took to nail the SOB to the wall if he was able to catch him.

* * *

That evening, Mercy couldn't believe she was knocking on the magnificent front door of Cooper Anderson's home. The door was an exquisite work of art surrounded by two ornate brass lamps. She didn't have to wait long because the door was opened by Cooper Anderson himself asking her to come in.

"It feels as if it has been forever since I saw you. I rarely get time to come to the library now that I have opened the store in Findlay. The store takes up so much of my time."

Cooper had a way with him that made him the perfect store owner. He treated everyone he met as if they were a friend. Mercy hadn't had much contact with him as she had had with his younger brother, Blaine. Blaine had invited her over to his house when he was dating her good friend Kurt, and she had met Cooper maybe once or twice as a teenager. She had graduated from school when he came and talked to her sister's chorus class and had inspired her sister to dream of a stage career. He had come by the library sporadically over the years, and she had noticed that he was very attractive, well dressed man in his forties who had never married, who worked in the theater and now an antique shop, and so, she assumed like everyone else, that he was gay.

"I understand how busy you must be commuting back and forth and a successful business would keep you busy as well." Mercy said as she followed him into his front parlor taking a seat on the chair that he led her towards.

"I don't know if you knew it or not, but I spend more time in my truck, then I do anyplace else. When, I am not at work, I spend most of my free time going to auctions and real estate sales hoping to find the perfect pieces. Most of my nights are spent separating the junk from the treasure. Just last week at an estate sale, I found a silver platter and bought it for fifty dollars. Turns out the piece was from the 1800s, and I was able to sell it for over a thousand dollars. I have a client who collects silver from that time period and it matched some of her pieces perfectly."

"Wow, I bet it takes a lot of training to be able to see the value in what other people consider junk."

"Not a lot of training as you think. Having grandparents who thought taking you to museums was entertainment allowed me to see a lot of fine art early in life. Plus, my mom was consumed with antiques, so I have just followed in her footsteps and use the Internet to help me identify items that I am not familiar with. Enough about me, why do you want to do a makeover?"

"Cooper, I know I am a hot mess, and I am hopeless when it comes to applying makeup. My mom and aunt think I am hopeless, and that is why, they suggested that I come to you for help."

"It will probably only take me less than an hour to show you how to apply makeup. What else are you thinking about doing once you master the art of doing your own makeup?"

"Getting something done to this hair. I have had the same natural style since being a child, and I think I need a blowout or perm or something, I was thinking of letting Carmen…"

"Don't you dare let Carmen touch you hair for anything but a wash and cutting off the ends. She hasn't had any training since she got her license over forty years ago. She doesn't know anything of the new trends, you would be better off going to Findlay or Columbus to a stylist who won't burn your hair off to the scalp."

"I think I may want my hair relaxed and cut into a style. What do you think?"

"I think that it would be a shame to permanently straighten your hair. I was researching several women whose style I admire, and I think you can emulate. One is Michelle Obama. She has natural hair like you, but apparently she and a lot of other celebrities choose to do a silk press when they want to wear their hair straight. I think you should go to a salon and get a silk press, just get your ends trimmed to make sure your hair remains healthy. A short cut you would have to maintain, and I see you as a low maintenance woman. Just wrapping your hair up at night is all you would have to do to maintain the silk press for a couple of weeks. I would suggest doing it only once a month to protect your hair from heat damage."

"Wow, you have really taken the job of beauty consultant to heart. I will think about the silk press."

"You should really think hard. Your hair is gorgeous to me with the right styling products, I bet you could rock the natural with some curl elongation in between presses. Some men find curly hair very attractive. What else do you want to change about yourself?"

"Well, after I finish with my makeup and hair, I have decided to buy a whole new wardrobe because I have no sense of style. When I was in high school, I would dress like a member of the girls group Escape. When I got to college, I continued to weary baggy sweats and loose clothing. My current wardrobe is courtesy of me shopping with my mother."

Cooper looked at her from head to toe. She had changed out of her black pants and white shirt because she had been subconscious about her butt all day at work, and she was back to wearing a long a line skirt and blouse.

"You my dear, have never learned how to dress to make the most of your appearance. You have a great figure, and you need to start showing it off."

"I have a great figure?"

"You really do. Stand up and turn around slowly for me." He ordered and Mercy felt foolish doing it, but she did as he requested.

After sizing her up completely, Cooper added, "you are blessed to have glowing skin, great teeth, and those eyes of yours are exotic looking. I bet you have been embarrassed by your plush lips your entire life."

"Yes, that is why I didn't like wearing lipstick. It seemed to draw attention to my lips that one kid called soup coolers when I was a little girl, and when I was a teen, one guy use to harass me about what he like to do with my mouth whenever he saw me in class or in the halls."

"Honey, you need to forget those losers. Haters going to hate and players are going to try to get some play. We are going to make the most of those lips along with your eyes. They are going to be the things we play up the highlight in your makeup. You are no Tyra Banks or Halle Berry lookalike, but you have a quiet beauty and sexiness that can be accentuated."

"That's all I want to do is to look the best that I can. I don't want to be a ravishing beauty anyways."

"Being breathtakingly beautiful is a burden, so I have heard. Let's head to my bathroom it is the room in which I take all my selfies because it has the best light."

Mercy followed Cooper through his house, and her questions about his sexuality were put to rest when she saw him pull out a box that unfolded into trays filled with all sorts of containers for lip liners, brushes, eye shadows of various colors, colors for cheeks, colors for lips, and different types of foundations. Mercy couldn't help but to blurt out, "you have more makeup than CVS."

"Not as much, did you bring any of your makeup with you? I don't know if I have the right color foundation for skin tone, but the eye shadows, lip colors, and blushes should work."

Mercy opened up her purse to bring out a cosmetic bag with her paltry mascara, eyeshadow, foundation, lipstick, eyeliner, and blush. "That will do for a start for you, but you need to buy more colors for your eyes and lips." Cooper stopped looking at her makeup and looked at his own box. "This brings back memories of the time when I was on Broadway and had to slather on tons of makeup. The lightning is so bright on stage, and it will drown you out, so I had to wear layers of the stuff."

"Wow, that is amazing to have worked and lived in New York. I have never been to New York or a Broadway show. I have never done much of anything."

"It was fun while it lasted. Now, let's get you all dolled up beautiful. Remember makeup can not make you beautiful. It can only enhance natural beauty and detract from blemishes and faults. Your nose is adorable so you won't have to do any contouring of it."

In less than an hour, Mercy was amazed at her appearance. Her eyes looked bigger, her mouth looked sexy, and she couldn't be mistaken for boring or a plain Jane ever again. She couldn't believe it was her. She was someone that people would notice. Cooper had plucked her eyebrows reminding her that she didn't want to be like Joan Crawford with an eyebrow hair so long that you could name it nor did she want to be a member of the eyebrow less club that had to draw a line where their missing eyebrows were. He only plucked a few stragglers.

After plucking the eyebrows, he took her through the whole process of applying makeup. How to fix mistakes, how to blend, how to wipe off excess mascara from the wand before applying it. He then had her removed all the makeup, he applied, and coached her as she applied her makeup on herself.

"I did it. I learn to apply my own makeup." She said with a voice of gratitude and accomplishment. She looked at the results, her complexion was smooth, her cheek bones highlighted, and her eyes mysterious and large with her lips looking full and moist. It had not been difficult at all to recreate what Cooper had taught her.

"Well, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to apply makeup. It just takes learning the tricks of the trade. Just keep practicing and don't go overboard with the colors. Now I am thinking of three styles for you: old money which is the Michelle Obama look that I think you could rock, natural girl which is more of a Solange look with your natural curly hair, or sex kitten Ashley Graham. You could rock any of those looks effortlessly."

Cooper watched as Daisy left his house and headed to her car after she hugged him and thanked him for what felt like forever but only lasted minutes. He waved goodbye once he saw her safely in her SUV. He couldn't wipe the smile off his face. He had never spent any time with her alone before, and he realized he truly liked her. She was a little too trusting and innocent for her age, but she was an authentic person. A person who was real and didn't have any meanness or bitchiness in her her. She had no clue on how to look her best, but thank the sweet Lord he knew how. When he finished assisting her in her makeover, she was going to be one hot tamale. He couldn't stop his excitement as he picked up the phone and dialed a number. When he heard the person on the other line answer his call, he only said one sentence. "I have a perfect candidate, and her name is Mercy Jones."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: If I could have added more than four characters to this story, then the next person I would have added would have been Brody Weston. Chapter Seven gives us his background and an update on whether or not he has taken care of Puckerman. The latter half of the chapter is more Cooper and Mercy Ann Jones. Thanks again to any new follows and my most faithful and best reviewers ever. I knew I wasn't going to be able to write on Thursday, so after a day spent with loved ones who complained about my absence, I began writing this until I fell asleep. I don't own anything but the mistakes. More Samcedes interaction in the next chapter.**

Chapter Seven

Brody Weston was someone who believed in getting the job done. The people who knew of him always referred to him as being the example of professionalism. His professionalism stemmed from his character and a part of his character was always to do the best at what he did. His current line of employment required him to be very careful, to never get emotionally involved, and most importantly to pay attention to details. Because he adhered to this guidelines, he had never been arrested. He had never even been given a speeding ticket in his own name. Of course, he had been stopped for speeding when he was younger, but he had given the police officer a driver's license with a different name. He had set up a new identity as soon as he turned 21, which was 15 years ago.

The reason why most people in his line of business got caught was because they drew attention to themselves. Brody did the opposite. He believed in having impeccable personal grooming; he also didn't believe in doing drugs and drinking to get drunk. He occasionally had a drink but never while driving or working. To most people who saw him, he looked like the average guy with a family and 2.5 kids with house that had a picket fence. He watched enough television shows to see how most criminals were depicted. They had tattoos, wore gold chains, had pierced ears, and he made sure he didn't wear ostentatious clothes or accessories to look like what people perceived a criminal looked like. He wore his brown hair cut short, and although he could afford a Rolex, he wore a Timex watch, and he watched his weight. Because he looked like the average American citizen, he could travel anywhere and not draw attention to himself.

His character and appearance were the total opposite of Noah Puckerman's. He was totally disgusted with Puck. Puck had gotten rid of the mohawk, but he hadn't gotten rid of his unprofessionalism in the years he had known him. Although the dead girl wasn't important, her dead body was going to raise questions. The police investigating her death would not find much evidence because he knew how to ensure that the cops would not find anything that led back to their human trafficking ring, but sometimes cops got lucky and were able to solve what many would deem unsolvable cases. Since Brody had begun working with Clarington, he had made a lot of money. Now, Puck was putting his livelihood and freedom in jeopardy. His freedom was in jeopardy because if Puck was ever caught, he would spill every secret he knew and everybody would go down with him.

What Brody didn't understand about Puck was his need to have sex with unconscious women, and even if he was into necrophilia, there were other ways he cold render a woman unconscious without doping her with GHB. He could just put visine in their drinks or get them drunk. But Puck was consumed with using GHB which was not good because you never knew what the results would be. Sometimes it was just a memory gap and other times it could shut down a person's brain. It had to be that in Puckerman's mind it was if he was getting away with something and not really raping his victim. No matter how he tried Brody couldn't understand Puck's logic.

Because Puck was such an idiot who could cause their entire criminal syndicate to go down, he had to die. It was either Puck or him, if Mayor Clarington had not given him permission to waste Puck, then he would had left town never to be heard from again. Despite the mayor being a rich entitled white evangelical Christian, he seemed to have no qualms about eliminating Puckerman. Hunter Clarington was one of the most cold-blooded people he had ever met. They never used the term murder in their line of business. Brody didn't even think of calling what he was going to do to Puck as murder, it was more of an extermination service for the mayor. Puck was the proverbial rat who had set his own trap, and it was Brody's job to make sure he was dead before disposing his body.

The reason why Puck was still alive was because he had an instinct for self-preservation and had gone to hiding in the walls like the low down dirty rat he was. He knew he had goofed up with murdering the girl, and he was not willing to stick around to see what his consequences were going to be. Brody had checked all of his usual hangouts and he was unable to catch this particular rat. Brody could just drive up to his trailer and put a bullet in his head, but those kinds of deaths created attention with the media. He didn't need anyone digging into Puck's past or his current activities. So, he had decided to make Noah Puckerman's death look accidental.

Also, Puck knew Brody's car, so Brody had to borrow one from a friend to cruise through town looking for Puck. He was a like a cat trying to catch his prey. He looked everywhere for Puck's pickup truck and couldn't find it anywhere. He decided to retrace his journey at night because he knew just like rats came out in the dark, Puck was likely to do the same thing. Seeing how Puckerman lived was a constant reminder to Brody of the life he escaped from. Puck had slept with older women in his teens just for the sexual thrill, but Brody used his good looks to sleep with wealthy women for pay. He studied the wealthy, what they ate, what they drank, what they wore. He saved his money and was able to escape the same trashy background that Puck had come from. Brody never wanted to go back to the lifestyle of poverty and having to be a gigolo to pay his way out of it. He still needed more money. He wanted to earn enough to get out of the business altogether, unfortunately Puckerman probably wanted the same things, but he was never going to have the opportunity to do so.

Another difference between his lifestyle and Puck's lifestyle was that Brody Weston believe in saving most of his money. He didn't live ostentatiously but preferred the simple things in life. He dabbled a little bit with the stock market but he only purchased stocks that had a history of doing well. He didn't earn lots of money doing this, but he didn't lose any money at all. One day when he had reached the 2.5 million dollar goal of his dreams, he was just going to walk away from being Brody Weston. He would set up a small business, marry, and hopefully become a productive citizen who raised his own productive citizens in his new community. He had hope for the future; whereas, even if Puck had hope, he wasn't going to live long enough to realize a distant future.

If only Puck would have done the job he was hired for, then Brody wouldn't have to exterminate him. But the only thing standing in between Brody and his future was Noah Puckerman. Brody had had his plans for years, and his plans are what propelled him to leave the nasty low income home he grew up in and kept him away from drugs, alcohol, and cheap women that would derail him from reaching his overall goal.

It would have been so easy to smoke pot and drink with his friends just like Puckerman did when he wasn't transporting their products and drugging and rapping them. It was always easy to take the low road; the road that led only to a dead end. Taking the high road meant appreciating the art of delayed gratification. And those who were smart like him from his old neighborhood did this and were able to find the road out of poverty, addiction, and hopelessness. And because Brody could see himself living the American dream of rising from poverty and buying a home, having a retirement plan, and most importantly being his own boss, he knew he would never go back to living a life filled with poverty and self-blame for not finding a way out.

* * *

Whenever Cooper Anderson began his next project, nobody could distract or deter him from finishing it to completion. Mercy had never met a man with so much focus, energy, and desire to spend time helping her complete her makeover. She had to make time to get her new place ready to move into. Mercy barely had time to spend with her mother and aunt nevertheless herself. By the time she got home from work, she was either with Cooper or at the house on Lincoln Avenue trying to get everything painted, fixed, and purchased. The only reason why she didn't beg Cooper to leave her alone was because she liked the changes she saw in herself.

They had spent more than one afternoon in Findlay together. She would meet him as his antique shop, and then they would go shopping together. Mercy thought it was best to get all three styles because she needed new clothes for work, for dates, and for bar hopping and clubbing. So, she was going to be old money at work, she was going to go with the nature girl look for weekends and when she was off of work, and the sexy kitten look when she gathered the nerve to go to clubs and dance to shake what her mother had obviously given her. She was much too shy to do this now, so she was going to stick with nott dress overtly sexy but sexy/casual.

After shopping for clothes, which took five hours as Cooper made her try on outfit after outfit, they duo headed to the shoe stores where they spent another couple of hours. On their second day in Findlay, he had taken her to a nail salon where she had a manicure and pedicure. He also convinced her to go to a day spa where she had her skin exfoliated, massaged, and pampered. On the third day, they went to a hair salon and discussed possible hairstyles.

They both agreed that her hair in it's curly state should be at the top of her shoulders, so she would have to get a trim and not the radical cut that she had previously had in mind. Walking into the hair salon had been a different experience for Mercy. She had been used to going to Carmen's with her mom since she got her first press and curl for Easter when she was ten years old. She hadn't let anyone besides her mother fix her hair. She had learn how to maintain her natural hair when she was older, and she no longer would go to Carmen so her hair could be straightened with a hot comb. She only went for a hot oil treatment, wash and deep conditioner, and trim every six months.

The hair salon that Cooper had set up an appointment with was very nice. When she arrived and was seated, she was asked what she wanted to drink. Mercy was about to ask for water when Cooper interjected that she would need a glass of wine to unwind. The receptionist went to pour her glass of wine, and she could tell by the conversation that Cooper had with the receptionist was that this was the salon that he used to maintain his perfect hair.

"Sheila is finishing up with a customer, but she will be with you in a couple of minutes. She is one of our most popular stylist. She is the person we use with most of our first time clients. She has the gift of making the most out of a person's hair."

"Mercy, I am going to leave you in Sheila's capable hands, but before I go back to my store, I will make sure to tell Sheila everything that we talked about." Cooper said and got up to prepare to leave.

Mercy wasn't expecting Cooper to leave, but the silk press could take two hour or more due to the thickness of hair. She should have realized that Cooper wasn't going to sit there and watch the television or read magazines while he waited her on.

After three hours of having her hair washed and deep conditioned, then having her hair and scalped treated with various products before being blown dry straight, Sheila would refill her wine glass before getting back to press Mercy's hair with an ionized flat iron. After her hair was finally bone straight, Sheila clipped off her ends and then turned Mercy around in the chair to look at herself. Mercy couldn't believe how different she looked. The woman staring back at her with makeup on, polished nails, and fashionable clothes almost appeared to be a stranger.

She had texted Cooper to tell him that Sheila was finishing her up when Sheila had used the scissors to snip away at her ends making her hair even in the back. Sheila had ended up parting her hair in the center of her head when Cooper and Mercy had agreed that she needed an easy style that wouldn't take much expertise or time to recreate daily. The part in the center allowed for the hair to hang on the sides of her face making her face look thinner. And all Mercy had to do was wrap her hair every night and hair would maintain the simple style.

After approving Mercy's new look, Cooper personally thanked Sheila which caused Sheila to smile, and for the first time, Mercy saw a hint of resemblance between herself and the hairdresser. "You did a great job Sheila, she looks like a million bucks."

"It wasn't hard, she really has great hair that hasn't been over processed with heat and chemicals. Her hair was very strong, and the silk press shouldn't damage her hair. She has been given instructions on what to use for curl elongation in between visits, so she should be able to maintain her curly style between visits."

Mercy just kept looking at herself in the mirror in shock and didn't care that they were discussing her as if she wasn't there. It wa if Cooper had a way with every woman he met, and Sheila wa his best friend as the two chatted and Mercy finished her wine. When Sheila was cleaning her station, Mercy stood up with Cooper prompting, and thanked and tipped Sheila before going to the receptionist and paying for new do and the styling products that Sheila had recommended.

Upon leaving the salon, Cooper led Mercy to his truck and told her that he had another surprise for her. He took her to the mall, and she got her ears pierced. She had her ears pierced as a child, but because she hadn't worn earrings, the holes had closed. Cooper held her hand as if she was a child because the thought of going through pain for beauty was not Mercy's idea of a good time no matter how many glasses of wine she had imbibed.

When they left the mall four hours later, Mercy was too exhausted to enjoy her new look. Thanks to the three glasses of wine she had while at the hair salon, she didn't even care about how much money that she was spending for the first time in her life. She had bought handbags, sunglasses, scarves, perfume, jewelry which consisted of earrings, necklaces, and bracelets. When Cooper urged her to buy an anklet, she was resistant at first, but after he told her that men thought anklets were sexy, she bought two one in solid gold and one in silver.

While they were heading back to Cooper's store, Mercy's mind was filled with all the changes she was making. She no longer cared about the way other people would now see her. She only cared about herself. At first she wanted the change to attract a man, but while on this journey with Cooper, she realized that she enjoyed the experience of the nail salon, spa, and hair salon. She could treat herself and even go shopping for new clothes something she used to hate with a passion because it was hard finding clothes that looked good on curvy, plush, and petite hourglass frame. Going to high end stores that catered to women of all sizes in a bigger city than Lima was what she had needed to do to fall in love with clothes and enjoy trying on clothes that didn't make her look like an extra munchkin from _The Wiz_. They were clothes and spanx that allowed her curves to be hugged without emphasizing how big was. She promised herself that she was going to continue in her new lifestyle of maximizing her full potential whether she was looking for a man or not.

Cooper brought her out of thoughts by asking an unexpected question, "I hope you don't think I am being nosey, but can you please tell me what's the motivation behind your metamorphosis from cute caterpillar to beautiful butterfly?"

"It was turning thirty-four on my birthday." She answered honestly.

"What! You have got to be kidding me. I knew you went to school with my brother or his boyfriend, but I wouldn't have guessed your age correctly at all. You look to be in your twenties. You just dressed older than what you were I always thought."

"You honestly thought I was that young."

"I would swear on the Bible that I would have placed your age in the twenties. It must be true that saying that black doesn't crack. I am sure you could have had a career in Hollywood. You could play a teenager in your forties. With your height, I am sure you are carded whenever you try to go to a club or buy alcohol."

"Yep, the saying is true for people who don't smoke and drink. I think being a reader and staying indoors have kept my skin looking the same all these years. I never go to clubs, so I don't know about that, and most people in Lima know me as the librarian, so I am never carded when I buy the occasional drink."

"Well, whatever you are doing to keep your youthful glow, don't stop doing it. You also have a face that is open and is not world weary. You really look like an innocent and that could be why your essence is that of a younger person."

"Well, I haven't had a lot of worldly experiences. I went to college and then after graduate school came back home to the same room that I had as a child. I don't go out at all, and that is maybe why I appear innocent and naive about things and is why I needed to make this change in my appearance, so that I could attract a man. See, I really want to get married and have kids. And the way I looked before was not going to help me at all in getting booed up."

"You don't have to worry about a thing now. You are going to be fighting men off with a stick you gorgeous thing." He said smiling at her before continuing, "Are you interested in a particular man?"

"Thanks, Cooper. I really have you to thank for all of this." Why did everybody think that she was trying to change her appearance for a man that she really already knew. First her mother, then Aunt Jo, and now Cooper. "No, I don't have anybody that I am interested in seeing right now, so I am thinking of going to nightclubs to meet men. Can you think of any good places to go?" Mercy asked thinking maybe she shouldn't have asked the last question because Cooper probably only went to gay clubs.

"I've heard the Yucatan was a great place to go if you like dancing."

"I used to dance with my sister all the time around the house. We thought we were going to be a singing group when we were younger. We would sing Britney Spears', Christina Aguilera's, Mariah Carey's, and of course Whitney Houston's songs all the time. We got on our parent's nerves. But, I am not caught up with any of the latest dances. When I first heard about twerking, I thought it was somebody having an allergic reaction that resulted in her body jerking without control."

"I am sure you will be fine, and if you are interested in twerking don't look at Miley Cyrus for an example is the best advice I can give you. All of those artists you named sound like the music my brother used to sing around the house as well. Do you think you will go out later tonight?"

"I really am not sure I should. I may still need to unwind after our day out. It's been awhile since I have done anything on my new place, and I may need to check on it."

"I really think you should go tonight. Your hair is looking awesome, you have the clothes, accessories, and everything else you would need to go out and be your best version of your fabulous self."

"I will have to think it over. I have never gone to this club, and I don't know how to act."

"Believe me, when the men see you, all you have to do is be yourself. You won't have to act or do anything but have a good time."

"I still don't know. Being myself has never worked for me before."

Cooper couldn't contain his laughter, "that's because you were never this hot before. Hot momma believe me you will be the honey tonight that will attract a lot of bees."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thanks for the new favorites and all the views and reviews as well as followers that this story is getting. I update daily so I have no time to respond to reviews which makes me upset because you know I am wordy and appreciative. Just a reminder the great Linda Howard (I have read almost all of her novels, so I am sure you have seen her influence on my earlier writing with the hero and heroine not liking each other, the crazy Southern humor, and crime) wrote this work, and I own nothing. As always please forgive all my many mistakes, and I promise Samcedes will be in this chapter at the end, the next chapter will have more.**

Chapter 8

Hunter Clarington usually didn't let anything ruffle his feathers, but he hadn't heard from Weston, and he was anxious for information. He called the man on his private phone, and they arranged to meet at their normal spot. As soon as he drove his car next to Weston's, he immediately asked, "Has the Puck issue been resolved?"

"No, I haven't been able to find him. I think he will keep out of sight for another week, then he will be ready to go to his usual haunts to get his usual fixes. I am sure this is the longest he has probably gone without dosing a girl with GHB and raping her. I have people posted at all of his regular hangouts. As soon as he shows up at one those locations, I will know and have the situation taken care of."

"Martinez had sent pictures from his cell phone of the girl. Remington had already arranged a big buyer for her. When the guy find out she was no longer available, he got mad and went to another source. Remington is very upset, and he wants Puckerman taken care of as soon as possible."

"Don't worry, Puckerman is a creature of habit and will surface soon enough. If I make a big production of trying to find him, he will find out and flee like the rodent he is. You are going to have to be patient and wait for him to return to the surface."

"It's not about my patience; it's about Remington running out of patience. That girl was worth more money than the other three combined. A girl that beautiful who already speaks English with no family to look for her was worth her weight in platinum not gold."

Brody knew that David had questioned the other girls and had found out that Santana was not like the other girls who worked the streets. She was well educated, had impeccable manners, came from a family with money, and most importantly still had her virginity in tact. For their line of business, virginity always increased the value of their stock. This was something Brody couldn't understand. Why would a man want to have sex with a woman who wouldn't know how to please him and give him pleasure or be able to receive pleasure for herself? Unless, these men wanted to inflict pain or perhaps sacrifice a virgin for some ritualistic reason, and he knew with the amounts of money they paid for one, that the second reason was not an option. He tried to not to think of the girls as human beings but as objects. Whatever happened to their merchandise after it was delivered to the buyer was something he never allowed his mind to concentrate on or he wouldn't be able to do the job.

"Don't worry about Puckerman. He will show up, and I will personally see to it myself that he is taken care of. Don't forget Martinez called and said we have another shipment that will arrive on Thursday night. He has five girls with him this time. I think we should have a new exchange place in case Puck has been talking. Another reason I am not hounding him is that I don't want him to get scared and go to the cops to try to get the District Attorney to arrange a deal for him. Do you know where we can keep the girls now that Puck's place is out of the question?"

Weston's question caused Hunter to think of the ramifications of Puckerman being alive was having for him and his business. It was hard finding a location that he could have the girls stored without arousing suspicion in someone. If he tried somewhere rural, he knew that these people were bored with life, so they were incredibly nosey, and would see a strange automobile coming into their community and would probably investigate carrying a shotgun for protection. The previous location was so isolated that there was always a warning of cars on the dirt road to alert Puck to hide the girls if necessary. "If push comes to shove, then we will have to rent a big U-Haul and put them in it until it's time for the exchange."

Hunter didn't want to do this because there was no air, bathroom, or running water in a U-Haul. The girls would soil themselves in this vehicle, and the buyers would receive nasty, stinky, and less than desirable merchandise. He really didn't care what the buyers wanted, but he didn't want the hassle of dealing with Remington when it came to complaints. Even though he didn't want to do this, he would probably have to do it with the upcoming shipment because there was not enough time to find another ideal location. Before he could tell Weston this, his cell phone began to ring. "I am going to have to get back with you later on this. The most important thing I need for you to do is to take care of Puckerman for Christ's sake." Hunter told Weston before driving off and returning the phone call.

* * *

Pulling up at the Yucatan, Mercy was jittery because she was so nervous. It took her an additional fifteen minutes to get out of her automobile before she talked herself into going back home. When she got to the doors of the club, she had to take a deep breath before fostering up the courage she needed to enter into the establishment. She was bone tired from the hair salon visit and the long day of shopping, but her mother's and Aunt Jo's reaction had given her spirits the boost it needed to try one of her more daring outfits of a black denim miniskirt, with a cold shoulder black and silver Dolman top, that she wore with her silver anklet and silver accessories with her most comfortable black wedge heeled sandals.

When she had come home from all of her shopping and putting her new purchases in her room, she didn't let her mom and Aunt Jo know that she was home. Instead she decided to surprise them by entering the den where they were watching the nightly news. It was her mother who noticed her arrival first, and she joking asked in a serious voice, "Who are you and what are you doing in my house?"

This caused Aunt Jo to look up and they both jumped out of their chairs and hugged her while touching her hair and complimenting her appearance. She went back upstairs giddy from her loved ones reaction and decided that since she was moving, she just needed to box or pack all of her new purchases instead removing all of them from the bags. She had hung up her clothing in her closet from the earlier shopping trip, and she had went about selecting an outfit for clubbing. After trying on a Bodycon dress that she felt too self-conscious in, she remembered what Cooper said where her strengths, she had nice and toned legs, lovely shoulders, and of course her curves. She decided to show off her legs by wearing the miniskirt, and her shoulders by wearing the cold shoulder Dolman top. She didn't forget his advice about the anklet, and since the shirt had silver in it, she decided to play it up with silver accessories.

After admiring her appearance in the mirrors and still not believing that her reflection was her, Mercy forced herself to leave the house. She rationalized her trip to the club by telling herself that she may never get her hair in the same way the stylist had fixed it again, so she needed to have her coming out while looking her best.

And now she was the Yucatan Club a large nightclub in Findlay that seemed to be the happening place. It had live music as well as a DJ and a big dance floor as well as a bar that seemed to keep the patrons happy. It didn't cost that much to enter the club, there was a fee because it wasn't Ladies Night, but she didn't balk about it the cost. She just removed the money from her small purse that had straps that was just big enough to contain her lipstick, tissue, and a few dollars. Cooper had advised her to keep her credit card in her bra and her driver's license in her car.

She nodded at one of the bouncers as she entered the place. He was huge and his partner on the other side of the door was just as big. She didn't worry about bar fights or the insanity that happened in clubs happening tonight with their presence. The two men, one black and one white, inspired confidence that they could handle any situation. The place was jammed tight because it was Saturday night, and because she was too busy looking around, she wasn't looking where she was going, so she bumped into a petite blonde who gave her the stare down. Mercy wanted to apologize, but decided to just say "Excuse me," as she held her head up high and made her way through the crowds.

At last, she was able to find an empty spot, and she was able to survey her surroundings without bumping into people. She noticed the bar with the stools and the people who were near it. She saw couples dancing on the dance floor, while they dance to some ballad while the DJ took his break in his booth drinking and talking to people. She saw that she may be a tad overdressed in clothing as compared to the other women. Sure, some wore jeans, but the tightness of their clothing and the other skin they were showing made Mercy stand out a little. Most of the men had on jeans. She didn't know what to expect from a club, and she was slowly finding out.

A voice broke her out of her thoughts, "Hey there, you must be new, I don't remember seeing you here before." He said smiling up at her with a beer bottle in his hand.

Mercy didn't want to be rude, so she returned his greeting with a polite, 'hello.'

"Do you have someone here with you or are you here alone?"

Mercy couldn't believe it. Her first night at a club and she was already being flirted with. She may have never been clubbing before, but she was far from stupid when she lied to him, "I am here with some of my friends."

"Do you think we should join your friends on the dance floor?"

"Yes," she said as she watched him put down his beer bottle and lead her to the dance floor. Mercy couldn't believe how easy it was to do this. It was a slow song because the DJ was still on break, and he held her in his arms and guided her effortlessly along with the music.

"Well, I guess I should introduce myself to you, since your beauty temporarily stunned my brain and all I could think of was getting you on the dance floor, my name is Jake."

"Well, you are a great dancer, Jake. My name is Mercy."

"I know I told you earlier about not remembering seeing you here before, but is this your first time here at the Yucatan?"

"Yes, it is my first time."

"Well, I am going to personally make sure that it is not your last." He said before he was interrupted by a man tapping on his shoulder to cut in on his dance.

"Nope, you can't cut in. I saw her first; what do you think this is a high school dance?"

"Now, Jake you don't need to be possessive. I am sure this lady came to have a good time." The white man said as he easily removed Jake from her and spun her away on the dance floor.

Mercy looked back at Jake who she thought was one of the hottest men she had ever met in her life and saw him grinning good naturedly and assumed the two must be friends who did to each other a lot. "Are you and Jake good friends?"

"Yep, we went to school together and played on the same football team, and now we work together, and I just like getting on his nerves. My name is Spencer."

"Nice to meet you Spencer, I am Mercy."

The song quickly ended and the DJ came off his break and began to switch the music to a song she had never heard before, and the only words that she could catch was Juju on that beat as everybody on the dance floor attempted to do the moves. Spencer tried to get Mercy to join him, but she tried to tell him that she didn't know how to do the dance.

"Don't worry, I will show you. The dance is not hard I promise you." He said taking time to help her do the moves. She knew she looked ridiculous trying to do the dance, and she really felt as if she stuck out like a sore thumb. She laughed at herself because Jake must have seen how lost she was and came to the other side of her and tried to help her, but he soon found out she was a lost cause.

When the song ended, Jake had tried to reclaim his dance partner, but an older gentleman with an accent told him that she was his. "Hello, my name is Howard Bamboo. I noticed that you and I were the only two not able to juju, and I thought I would introduce myself."

"It's nice to meet you to Howard, my name is Mercy." Although Howard couldn't juju, he didn't seem to have any problems dancing with her on the song playing with a slower tempo. She was just grateful that she didn't step on his toes as they rocked their bodies to the beat.

Mercy was unable to leave the dance floor because as soon as she finished dancing with Howard, she danced with David, and after David a guy named Puck who had beautiful hazel eyes and a mysterious smile came up to her. She was too tired to dance, so she told him that she was going to sit the next dance out.

"How about I get you a drink?" Puck asked her as he led her to an area that nobody was occupying. All the seats were filled, and they couldn't sit down.

"If you don't mind getting me some water, I am quite parched."

"We are in a club and you are going to drink water? I am paying, and I insist I get you something better than that. How about a wine cooler or a glass of wine?"

"No, just water, I am really thirsty and water is the best thing for dehydration besides Gatorade."

"Will, you please let me buy you a drink. How about a Coke?"

"If you insist, but please bring me a bottle of water as well. Thanks." She said as she finally caved into his puppy dog eyes begging stare.

"Don't go anywhere, I will be right back." Puck said as he headed to the bar.

Mercy had every intention to stay there until Puck returned, but she was soon forced to move when a lot of people left the dance floor and decided to stand where she was. It took her another moment to find somewhere else to lean against a post to enjoy her break. She tried to find Puck as she looked at the bar, but it was impossible to find him with her short stature even though she was wearing heels. The new shoes had felt fine at first, but she didn't think that wearing new shoes to dance in had been her best idea, and she really wanted to get off of her feet as she looked around for an available seat.

"Are you looking for someone or a place to sit that fine ass down?" A large man asked her placing his arm around her and dragging her down onto his lap.

This scared the Jesus out of Mercy as she tried to get back up but was hampered by him tightening his hold on her pulling her back towards him. Mercy tried to brace herself so that she didn't land on his junk, but instead of preventing contact, she crushed his crotch by placing all the weight of her hands on his privates.

The man let out a squeal like a hog in heat that could be heard over the loud music and talking. This sound alerted Mercy to where her hands were, and she tried to get up while pressing her hands down harder,so she could get her bearing. This pressing produced a louder wail that sounded if the man was singing in a boy's choir and caused every eye that was near them to focus on the two of them.

All of the people staying at Mercy caused her to lose her focus. Also, the mini skirt that she tried to keep from riding up and her sore feet caused her to fall right back on him and whenever she did this, her hand would go back to the same place as if it was a missile. She started to feel bad when she felt his ball sac began to grind against her fist and the big man had sounded as if he was dying. Because people were distracted, a man not watching where he was going ran into a woman and she spilled her cold drink on her boyfriend's crotch which caused her boyfriend to get up and punch the other man out. One fight started another and people who didn't want to get hurt were fleeing from the club. Mercy couldn't stop her own desire to join them as she tried to get on her feet.

A man's strong hand reached out to and effortlessly lifted her from the stranger's lap. As soon as Mercy was removed his lap, the man placed his hands over his crotch and cried out again and stumbled to the floor in pain. Mercy stopped looking at the man and tried to look up to the identity of the man who swung her over his back in a firefighter's lift and was escorting her through the fighting melee. The club's bouncers were busy breaking up fights, so she knew she wasn't being ejected from the club by them, but she couldn't figure out who was taking her out the club until she was outside and the man let her down. When she looked up, she was shocked to see the face of Chief Evans.

Before she could say anything, they could hear the sound of glass breaking from inside and more people were trying to make their way outside, so the police chief grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her to the side with him underneath the neon sign advertising the name of the club.

"Who would have thought it but it is Ms. Prim and Proper Mercy Jones stirring up trouble in a nightclub. Tell me is this how you spend your weekends away from the library?"

"No, I have never been here before, but I really didn't mean to...It was an accident. Please, let me explain."

"Oh, boy Ms. Perfect wants to explain how in less than a minute her actions started a full on brawl after she tried to turn a big burly man into big burly girl on her first visit to the Yucatan. Please, let me know when you decide to return, so I will know to either wear a cup or not come at all."

How dare he blame her for what happened. She had to set the arrogant man straight if it was the last thing that she did. "I was only trying to get out of his lap, he pulled me onto his lap, and I was trying not to sit on his pelvic region, but when I put my hands down instead of my behind, all my weight was on my hands, and I crushed him…"

"You mean pulverized his balls and grinded them into the chair. Is that what you mean by crushing him?" Chief Evans couldn't help but elaborate. "If you hadn't started making that man squeal like a little girl, I was going to come rescue you, but then I saw you had everything settled by using the palms of your tiny hands. Who knew something this small could be so lethal." He said while staring at her hands.

"How dare you make it sound like I did this intentionally!"

"Don't sweat it," he said infuriating her with his grin. "I will never forget tonight, and that man will never grab another lady without thinking of the consequences. Let me escort you to your vehicle."

"You don't think I need to go in and try to apologize to the club owners and that man?"

"Nope, the sheriff deputies will be showing up soon, and I don't need to give your mother a heart attack when she has to come bail you out of jail. Where are you parked?"

She really didn't want her mother nor her Aunt Jo to find out how her first night of manhunting went. I am parked over there by the light. She pointed and felt his arm grab her elbow as he walked with her to her Explorer.

There were plenty of people who had the sense to hightail it out the club, and the parking lot was filled with cars leaving from every direction. Chief Evans made sure she was protected as he led to her car, and she was grateful to him for the first time in her life. When she unlocked the door of the car, the chief exercised his Southern gentleman ways by opening her car door for her. "Before you leave, I need to make sure that you haven't had anything to drink." He asked her out of blue.

"Nope, I haven't had anything not even water since I have been here." Mercy said recalling the hazel-eyed man that had offered to buy her a Coke, but never made it back to her in time. Thinking about this made her even thirstier.

Sam Evans leaned against her door and looked down her top while staring at her underneath the dome of the light where she had conveniently parked. "You have been misleading everyone all this time. I can't believe you would willingly hide that fine figure that you have in those old granny clothes that you wear to work."

Mercy wanted to disappear in her car because she was so embarrassed. "I have decided to try something new." She said and left it at that knowing that he was too nosey to be satisfied with her answer.

Sam wanted to detain her but knew he should let her go. He made a disgruntled noise and closed her car door. He was surprised when she cranked the SUV up and let down her window and said, "I can't thank you enough for helping me to leave that club and making sure I got to my car unscathed."

"Well, I figured if I hadn't rescued that guy from you, he would be looking for someone to castrate him for relief. I am almost sure I hear sirens, you need to get home before the deputies come here and detain everyone for questioning."

"Are you leaving, too?"

"No, I am going to stay here and help them out."

Mercy hadn't been thinking when she asked if he was leaving. Of course, the other sheriff deputies would know him and be glad of any help that he could give them. She wondered if he would be questioned. She almost asked him to not tell the people in Lima that he had seen her here, but she changed her mind. The people in Lima thought she was a loser and finding out that she had been clubbing might get them to change their opinions of her. Especially, now that she had changed her appearance. She knew that changing her appearance alone would now draw men to her, they wouldn't know she was available and fun loving until her reputation showed this side of her personality.

"Do you think I am going to have to give a statement to them?"

"Not unless you persist in not leaving. Go home Mercy Jones, while you still can."

Just when she thought she could tolerate or maybe even like Sam Evans, he had to turn into the rude bully that he apparently inherently was. She smashed her foot on the gas pedal causing gravel to spew everywhere not caring if she hit him or not. It was what he deserved, then changed her mind when she remembered he was a the police chief and could turn her over to the Findlay police if he wanted. She took her foot off the gas pedal and slowed down. She wanted to go back and apologize, but thought better of it when she saw the blue lights approaching the club and she gladly left the club like he had told her while she still could."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thanks again as always for your support. This is one of those super chapters that I used to be known for. It has an overload of Samcedes' banter in it to make up for the chapters that don't and won't have it. I don't own anything in this story nothing is original but updates concerning the setting of the story into an AU Glee version set in present day Lima, Ohio.**

Chapter Nine

Mercy Ann Jones knew that she was a woman of considerable undiscovered talents. Her newly discovered talent was that she could go out clubbing and be home and in the bed before ten o'clock. She was able to get a good night's sleep and didn't complain when her alarm clock went off signaling it was time to get out of bed and get ready for church. She could go to church with a good conscience because although she had unintentionally injured a sexual harassing man, she did have a good time before all of that happened. And what surprised her the most was the fact that she wanted to go back to the club and dance again with the men she engaged in a flirtation with.

When she had gotten home from church, she felt like she needed to shower to get the eye prints off of her that everyone in the church have left on her as they had stared her down. She had dressed conservatively and fashionably in one of her old money outfits a nice sundress with a belt that defined her tiny waist and emphasized her rack and back with some comfortable shoes because her feet still ached from the night before. Instead of showering, she changed into some skinny jeans and a T-shirt because she had planned to go to her new home to see how far along Rick had come in painting the rental property. Now that she had the makeup, the hair, and the clothes, the only thing left she had to do was move out from under her mother's roof.

Mercy got a quick bite to eat before she rushed out of the house intending to get into her vehicle when she noticed the black police car pulled up alongside the front of the house. Mercy's heart plummeted when she saw Chief Evans get out of the car. When she came home early last night, she had only told her mother a little about what had happened at the club. She had refrained from mentioning anything about the man and literally bursting his balls. She just knew that Chief Evans was coming to tell her mother what had happened while he warned her about repeating her behavior. She didn't know why he felt the need to treat her like the rest of the older people in Lima. She didn't need anybody telling her where to go and what to do. She had same rights to be at the club doing her manhunting as he had for whatever reasons he had for being there.

As he walked closer to her, Mercy noticed that he was dressed similar to her in jeans and a green T-shirt that had to be a size too small the way it clung to his powerful frame. He looked more like a male model than a police chief. She couldn't help but to stare at his arms. Those were the same arms that had literally picked her up and carried out of the club. This was no small feat because she was far from a lightweight. He must had maintained his fitness regime from when he worked on the SWAT team.

"Are you about to go some place?" He asked her looking at her as she remained on the porch.

She nodded her head indicating that yes, she was about to leave. She knew she was being rude in staring at him and not speaking, but she didn't care to exchange social niceties with someone whose manners resembled a pit bull. This would upset her mother if she knew how Mercy was acting, but Sam Evans made her do things that she normally wouldn't do and say things she normally wouldn't say.

"Do you mind asking me inside?" He asked when she continued her stare down and hadn't moved an inch. His tone had mirth in it and obviously he found her funny and wasn't upset with her for being difficult.

"I don't think, so" She said after shaking her head but then voicing her answer so he would know that he wasn't welcomed.

"If I can't come in, then I am going to have to ask you to take a ride with me. What I have to say to you doesn't need to be overheard by anyone else."

"So, the man decided to press charges and you are taking me downtown to charge me with assault." Mercy said as she realized why he was here. "The man from last night didn't need surgery did he? I never intended to do permanent or any damage at all to him!"

Sam lowered his head to stop the laughter and the smile that were trying to penetrate his expression. He never knew what this woman was going to do or say. Most people bored you to death but not Mercy Jones. She went from being all aloof and ice cold to straight hysteria in zero to sixty seconds. There was obviously never a dull moment in the Jones' residence.

"I haven't heard anything from the law enforcement in Findlay about your loverboy. I am sure he was able to receive ice and pain pills and may only just be walking funny now."

Mercy couldn't hide her relief at hearing his words. "That is excellent news. I still don't understand why you have to take me downtown to the police station."

He hid his face again, and Mercy knew he was trying to hide his laughter, so she put her hands on her hips ready to go to battle with him.

Sam knew Mercy was about to regress into her old blue haired lady routine, so he simply grabbed her arm and began to lead her down the steps toward the car. "Don't get your panties back into a wad. I just can't get over you calling any area in Lima downtown. It's the funniest thing ever. It's Lima Ohio not Atlanta or Chicago. The downtown is just a city square."

What he was saying was true. But downtown Lima had always been described as a downtown, and on police shows, the cops always told the criminals that they were taking them downtown. He didn't have to pick at their small town just because he came from a bigger city.

Before he could guide her all the way to the police car, her mother came running out the house screaming, "Where are you taking my daughter?"

"Only for a ride Mrs. Jones. I will have her back home in an hour." He said smiling hoping to unruffle her feathers.

Marcia couldn't help returning the police chief's smile. She might be older but she wasn't dead and she could appreciate a fine specimen of manhood. "Okay, you two have a good time."

"Thanks ma'am." He replied as he watched Mrs. Jones return inside her house. Obviously some neighbors had been watching his and Mercy's interaction and when they saw him put his hands on her and walk towards the police car, they had called Mrs. Jones and she came out like a mother bear robbed of her cub.

"Why did you have to say that?"

"What, thanks ma'am?" Sam asked looking at Mercy as if she had gone off the ether again.

"No, that we are going for a drive. She is going to think that we are courting now."

"Do you want me to go back and tell her the truth of why I am taking you for a drive." He said as he waited until she had put on her safety belt before cranking up the car.

"You know that I definitely do not want you to do that, you are just being facetious. I had every right to be at that club, and it's not really all my fault that everything happened. It was just a series of unfortunate events."

"I agree with you one hundred percent."

"Then why are you taking me to the police station to question me? I offered to apologize to the man last night but you told me not to. I really didn't mean to hurt his manhood."

"I know I saw everything that happened." He said smiling and showing those crinkles around his eyes.

"So, why are taking me in to be questioned?" Mercy persisted when he hadn't answered her previous question.

"I never told you that I was taking you in to be questioned. You came up with that idea all of your own. I just asked you to come along with me on a ride. That is totally different than whatever scenario you have going on in your brain."

"What was I supposed to think? You show up at my mother's house in a police car. I assumed you were here on police business and not personal business. Besides the fact, that on every police show, every suspect knows what the cop means when he says let's take a ride."

"Maybe the shows you are watching are outdated, or they need screenwriters who actually research and see what goes on with real police officers. We either say we are taking you in for questioning or read them their Miranda rights and arrest them point blank. I have a never told anyone that I am taking them downtown."

After hearing his words and having them penetrate her brain, Mercy began to panic. Surely, Sam Evans had not come to ask her to go for a ride with him because he liked her and wanted to date her. She thought last night after probably hitting him with rocks, that he hated her guts. Besides his response to her last night was different than the other men who had flirted with her. She didn't know how he would respond when she told him that she wasn't interesting in dating him because he was a basically a stranger even though they had known of each other for three years. They had never even exchanged pleasant words with each other. No way could this white man be interested in her.

Mercy wondered if her makeover had truly made her irresistible to men. She quickly pulled down the sun visor and looked for a mirror and closed it again after seeing her reflection. She still had on her makeup that she wore to church today but her hair was in a ponytail giving her a casual look. With all the beautiful women in Lima throwing themselves at him, why would he be interested in her?

"Why in the world did you just do that?" Sam asked explaining when he saw her puzzled expression. You didn't look in the mirror long enough to check your lipstick or anything."

Mercy decided to do what she found herself doing a lot around this man-lie. "I was just checking to see if cop cars had mirrors in their visors. It just doesn't seem like something a cop car should have. It makes it seems feminine."

"Feminine," he said with a muffled tone like he had something in his mouth besides a tongue and teeth.

"Not that I think that you are feminine at all." She didn't want him to think that after giving him the gay test and saying his car was feminine that she thought he was gay. She knew how egotistical men were, and she didn't want to question his sexuality.

"I don't mean to be rude Miss Mercy but you follow too many bunny trails and I can barely figure out what you are talking about half the time. Did you suffer from ADD as a child?"

Mercy didn't care that he was basically insulting her because then he wouldn't be able to catch her in her lie. To keep him off focus she decided to change the conversation yet again. "Please don't call me Miss Mercy. It makes me sound like an older woman, and I am younger than you."

"We'll you got admit that you like ordering me around like you are my elder, so I try to treat you like you are one. Plus, you hang around a lot of elderly people and I think it has rubbed off on you."

"Well, I never!" She exclaimed losing her temper at him and screaming at him. Should she yell at the police chief while he was driving. She didn't know if that was a crime or not. She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she almost didn't hear him when he accused her wool-gathering again.

"I was still paying attention to you, but I didn't know if there was a law about yelling at the chief of police while he's driving."

"Oh, so you thought I was finally going to follow through with my threat to lock you up."

"I shouldn't have screamed at you. I normally don't yell, I am too busy shushing people that I try to keep my voice down, but you shouldn't tell any lady younger than you that you treat her like you would treat someone who is elderly because she hangs around a lot of older people.

"I won't ever do it again, but I also call you Miss Mercy or Miss Jones to remind myself to never make a joke of your name like I did when I first met you, and you turned ice cold towards me. Besides I can't help it if you remind me of my mom. The truth is just the truth."

When he saw the expression on her face and her re-opening the visor mirror, he couldn't help but utter. "This time I will be smart enough not to inquire on what's set you off this time."

"How in the world do I remind you of your mother?"

Sam Evans couldn't stop the laughter that had been bubbling his stomach to finally burst out in a full belly laugh. He could see why she looked in the mirror and wondered why she even bothered. "I didn't say you looked like my mom, I just said you reminded me of her. The way you talk to me is the same way she did and unfortunately still does when I do something she doesn't approve of."

When Sam made the turn towards Van Wert, she couldn't keep herself from asking why they were headed there as she looked at the scenery. When he wasn't speaking, she could actually take the time to enjoy the ride.

"I am just driving. We are definitely not going there. When I first moved here, I drove on every road that there was in this city."

"I bet that prevented you from getting lost. But where exactly are you taking me to today?"

"I still can get turned around when I am driving on autopilot but the GPS didn't recognize many of the dirt roads in the rural parts of town, so I had to learn by trial and error. We are not going to any particular location. We are just going for a Sunday afternoon ride."

'Oh, please Good Lord don't tell me I was right.' She said internally when she realized the chief of police was trying to date her. She had thought when he mentioned that she reminded him of his mother that she was in the clear, but maybe he had an Oedipal complex. He was from the South and they were known to interbreed. How disgusting she thought as she demanded that he turn the vehicle around and take her back home.

"Not until I am ready." He said in his rude manner and she couldn't stop smiling at him when he was back to his rude ways. No way could he be interested in her talking to her in this manner.

"Why in the hell are you smiling at me. You are scaring me, so please stop."

"You think that I have a scary smile?" She said her smile not as bright as it was previously.

"I don't find your smile scary what I find terrifying is that you are actually smiling at me when I didn't say anything that should have made you smile. I was sure you were off in la la land again."

"I was not off in la la land. I know exactly what I was thinking and I am glad you are unable to read my thoughts."

"Why are you glad?"

"Because I was thinking about private things."

"Were you thinking about me pulling over and doing sexy things with you?" Sam asked.

"Hell NO!" Never in a million years would her sexual fantasies include him unless she decided to go into BDSM and then she wouldn't mind being his dominatrix. She had to clear her mind of these thoughts and clear up his mind as well. "I was just glad that you were back to your normal rude self, for a minute I thought you trying to woo me."

"Woo you?" Sam couldn't stop himself from doing his Jeffrey Osborne impersonation and started singing "Can you woo woo, Can you woo woo, Can you woo woo?"

"Stop that my mom used to listen to my dad singing that to her when I was younger. I don't want to know how you both know that song and know who Jeffrey Osborne is. I don't mean what Jeffrey Osborne meant in that song, I mean scoping me out, trying to hook up with me, or date me whatever the terminology that is being used now when a man is declaring his intentions. But this doesn't feel like you are courting me, more like taking me without my permission."

"I am not attempting to kidnap you. I only want to have a private conversation with you about last night."

"I thought you told me that the man was alright. If I haven't done anything illegal…"

"I don't want to hear you talk about that man or arresting you again. I want to talk to you about the dangers of going to a nightclub by yourself."

"I don't need you to have this talk with me. I am a grown woman and I can go to any club or bar that I want to. What's more I haven't asked for your advice, and I don't need you butting into my business."

"Will you shut the hell up! I don't give a damn what you do in your own free time. I am not telling you to stop going to clubs. I am trying to give you a heads up on what to look for when you are out by yourself." Sam didn't mean to lose his cool but he knew how she could off into the ether without any prodding from him and he would never get to say what he came to say to her off his chest.

Mercy listened to him and then felt ashamed that she had misjudged him and jumped to conclusions. "I apologize. I am just so used to everyone in this town putting me in a pigeon hole that I assumed you were doing it, too."

"Well, you know what happens when you assume things? I just need to tell you some things for your safety because now that you have changed your hair and are dressing differently, you are going to attract all kinds of male attention."

"I know this happened the entire time I was at the Yucatan."

"Did you know any of the men that you interacted with?

"I had never met them before in my life."

"Well, you cannot believe anything that they tell you."

"I am not stupid, I know men lie, but I was definitely not looking to hookup with any of them. That's why I drove my car, so that nobody could ask to drive me home."

"What do you know about date-rape drugs?"

"Are you trying to tell me that those men would try to have sex with me by drugging me?"

"I can't be sure, and you can't ever be sure either. That's why I wanted to talk to you, so that when you go clubbing, you know not to let anyone other than the waitress or bartender give you a drink. It's always best to get your drink directly from the bar and watch the bartenders while they prepare it. Don't ever leave your drink somewhere and come back later and drink from it. Just throw your drink away and order a new one whenever you leave the place you put your drink down."

"How would my drink taste if it has been drugged?"

"You would only be able to taste it if you are drinking water. Any other drink will mask the taste of the drug if it's mixed well in the drink."

"So, there is no way to tell if you have been drugged because nobody would mix it in water because you would be able to tell and would not drink it. Is there any other symptom of being drugged?"

"The horrible thing about date rape is that when you feel the effects of the drug, you are too out of it to be able to get help. That's why I wanted to talk you to about going to clubs and bars alone. If you don't have anybody there to look out for you, you could be raped and nobody would be any wiser. If at any point you start to feel woozy and suddenly sleepy, then the best thing to do is call 911 and have somebody you trust take you to the hospital. Make sure that the person you trust to drive you is not a man just to be on the safe side."

Mercy was shocked. Chief Evans had put a damper on her mood because she didn't have any friends that would be interested in going to clubs with her. Her friends were all married with children, and the only single people that she was close to were her mother and Aunt Jo. And she would never take either of them to club with her that was just out of the question. Her mother would refuse to go, and Aunt Jo would start all kinds of fights with what she would be saying about people. Her auntie didn't have a filter, and nobody could stop the words that came out of her mouth.

For the first time, Sam understood Mercy Jones' silence as she took in all that he was saying about date-rate drugs. "There are several different types of drugs that are being used for date rape. The one that has most of the police departments in Ohio concerned is GHB."

"Is it because it's used the most?" Mercy asked truly wanting to know.

"Yes, because you can make it at home, it is the cheapest and easiest drug to use; plus in large amounts, it can kill you. Sometimes it doesn't even have to be large amounts because everybody metabolizes the drug differently."

"Surely, in large dosages you would be able to taste it, and it should affect your mouth in some way."

"Not necessarily, the drug is easily masked in fruit punch, soft drinks, and especially alcoholic beverages. When people overdose on the drug, they simply fall asleep and never wake up. This often happens when it's mixed with alcohol which amplifies the drug's effect. If a man is using GHB, then he doesn't care whether his victim lives or dies as long as he can have sex with her."

Mercy's heart was aching. She couldn't believe that this was still happening. When she went to college, they were always cautioned about date rape. Since she didn't go to clubs or parties, she never had to worry about it or pay attention when her resident hall director gave speeches about it. Going to clubs was the only way she could see herself meeting new men, but if going to clubs was dangerous, then how could she justify going. Well, he said that the men who used GHB doctored drinks. She could go to clubs, but she would only drink water and would never drink anything anybody offered to pay for her. She would be very careful and heed all the advice that Chief Evans was giving her.

"I promise you that I am going to take your advice and be very observant and careful. Thanks so much for telling about this because last night a guy did offer to buy me a drink, and I didn't know him and I let him. I don't know if the drink could have been tampered with or not since the fights broke out before he could come back to me with the drink. I could have been a victim last night if anybody bought me anything, and I really appreciate you giving me the heads up about this." She looked at Sam Evans with new eyes. He was not the rude bully that she characterized him as being. He took the time to tell her all of this, so she wouldn't become a victim. May she was premature in her judgments of him.

Sam didn't like it when she said she would be more careful, for reasons of his own, he didn't want her going to any more nightclubs. "When do you think you will be going clubbing again?"

Although she was grateful for his concern, Mercy didn't consider this any of his business and told him so.

"Well, I only wanted to know so that I could leave a supply of athletic cups for the men who became brave enough to touch you without permission. I am just kidding with you." He admitted before she went off into the ether again.

"In case you want to supply every club in the state with these cups, then you can rest assure that I won't be going out again until Saturday. I would never go clubbing after church on Sunday and during the week I am too busy with work and moving. If I am moved in by Saturday, I may go out and celebrate."

"I didn't know that you were moving out."

"Yes, I am finally leaving home and renting a place on Lincoln Avenue."

"Why would you want to move there? We have a lot of crime reported from that area. Are you sure you want to live in that neighborhood?

"I didn't plan on living there but with college students getting most of the rental propetits, I could only get what was left over for waiting until now to move. Most people leases end in December or May, and I waited too late, but I am going to get a dog to keep me safe, so I will be alright."

"Make sure you get a dog that can protect you and not some pocketbook size ankle biter. A German shepherd is one of the best dogs you can get. They are loyal, smart, and will give up their lives to protect you." Sam had worked with these dogs while he was on SWAT and bomb squad. The dogs were also used in K-9 units and they were raised as pups to be service dogs and whenever anyone asked his recommendation for a pet, he always told them to get a German shepherd.

Mercy knew that Chief Evans knew what he was talking about, but she couldn't see herself as the owner of any dog that big. She was petite and always liked smaller and fluffier dogs. She thought that small dogs provided great security because they barked louder and more often than any other dog, and since she was going to keep the dog in the house with her to be her companion, nobody would know the dog's size and the barking should scare people away. She was thinking a little terrier would be a great fit for her or any rescued dog that needed a good home. While she was thinking about dogs, she hadn't noticed that Chief Evans had driven her back home.

"I think you have company, that van wasn't here when I picked you up earlier." Sam Evans said as she noticed her sister's minivan parked behind her own vehicle.

"It's my sister and her family coming for their bi-monthly visit." Mercy explained as she thought about how her sister and her husband split their Sundays equally with their families. She usually saw them twice a month unless a month had a fifth Sunday. She didn't pay any attention to Chief Evans as she got out of his car and headed up the porch to the door eager to see her nephews.

Before she could get up the steps, her Aunt Jo was on the porch inviting her and Chief Evans in to eat some homemade peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream. Mercy hadn't even noticed when Sam Evans had opened the car door for her, that he hadn't returned to his car but had followed behind her. When she hesitated before going into the house, he walked in front her her and turned to look in her huge brown eyes. "We better get inside before the ice cream melts."

"I don't think you coming in with me is a good idea." She told him quietly so Aunt Jo wouldn't overhear them.

"Why ever not?" He leaned down and whispered in her ear.

Mercy didn't understand the feeling she got when she felt his breath on ears, but she tried to stammer out a response, "Be…..cause they may ….think….that we are…"

"In a relationship," he added looking down at her with amusement on his face as he grabbed her arm and led her into the house.

"Sam Evans don't even pretend that that's funny. You know people could overhear you and start rumors and I don't want everybody in Lima thinking that I am seeing you."

"It seems to me that I should tell them truth that I took you out to explain to you the dangers of date-rape drugs."

"Do you want to give my mother a stroke? I will kill you Sam Evans if you speak of this to anyone including my mommy."

"How about we just tell them we are friends?"

"Who would believe that we would be friends? We have nothing in common."

"I don't think it's unbelievable. I think that we could be very good friends."

"I know we can't ever be friends. You play too much Sam Evans and I don't have any time for that." She said as she allowed him to usher her throughout the house until the came into the dining room where the voices were and dessert dishes were set out. Mercy could feel all the adults looking at her with questions in their eyes. Her mother was seated next to Jane on one side and Aunt Jo on the other side of her. Jane's husband Anthony was seated on the other side of her, and her nephew AJ (Anthony Junior) was seated by her husband and across from him was his brother Jonathan. Mercy saw the two remaining seats were left. Her seat by Jonathan and her father's old seat at the end of the table.

"Everybody this is Chief Evans," Mercy said before sitting down in her seat urging him to sit in her father's old spot that had been empty for several years.

Sam didn't sit down but went to shake her mother's hand then Aunt Jo's hand. "Everyone please call me, Sam." He said and saw Anthony stand up and offer his hand in a protective stance, as if he was the male head of the family in charge of protecting Mercy's virtue.

When they all sat down to eat, Jane was the first to break the ice. She hadn't been paying any attention to Sam Evans or her husband. Her focus had been on her big sister and on how different she looked. "You straightened your hair. Mom and Aunt Jo said that you had made changes to your appearance but I didn't…." She faltered not able to finish what she was saying because Jonathan interrupted.

"You look like a girl now." Jonathan was at the age that he didn't like girls because they all had cooties. He didn't like his favorite aunt looking like a girly girl.

"I know but I am still the same Aunt Mercy. I just look different that's all. I promise."

"I like it, you look very pretty." Her eleven year old nephew, AJ, said as he looked up at her with a smile on his face.

"I can't believe you are wearing jeans and not just any jeans but skinny jeans." Her sister could not seem to get over her shock at seeing the changes in Mercy.

Mercy couldn't believe her sister was embarrassing her in front of Chief Evans. She knew she had to redirect the conversation before anybody else said anything else about her makeover, but before she could utter a word, Anthony tried to end her sister's observation by joining the conversation. "I think you looks fantastic. Doesn't she look great, Jane?"

"Of course, she looks great, she is my sister and we Jones girls are known for our voices and our looks." Jane said jokingly and looked up and forced a smile on her face at her sister.

"It didn't come from the Jones side of the family though," Aunt Jo said putting her two cents in. "It comes from the Harris side of the family. I made sure to mark both of you children so that you would inherit something from me. In our family, we believe the person who you angry with is who your child will resemble once they are born. During Marcia's first pregnancy is was a tie between the girls' father and me, but when she was pregnant with Jane, I made sure to be extra aggravating so that Jane could come out with a little her father and a whole lotta me. She even named her after me Jane Joanna. When we would go shopping, everybody would ask if Jane was my daughter. I tell you that means you two got more Harris blood than Jones blood."

"Stop being messy Jo." Marcia Jones said. "We have company and I don't want Chief Evans to think that we are a bunch of lunatics." She was glad that the conversation had changed, and she regretted not prepping Jane more for Mercy's transformation. She had hoped that her youngest daughter would be on her best of behavior with the police chief there at the table, but her sister Jo was right. Jane was a lot like her, but no matter what, she truly knew Jane was being sincere when she said her sister looked great.

Unfortunately for Mercy, her mother bringing up Chief Evans brought Jo's attention back on him and how he was looking at her niece, eating his dessert, and ignoring basically everything else that was going on around him. "I just want to know one thing, Sam Evans, how long have you been seeing my niece?"

"I am not…" Mercy tried to deny the fact that they were dating, but before she could finish talking, Sam's deeper voice drowned her out, "For about a week or so before she changed her appearance."

.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: After that supersized chapter my fingers and your eyes are a deserving of a break. The next chapters coming up will be shorter and all of them have a little Samcedes.** **As always** , **thanks again as always for your continual support. You can stop reading this note because what is left is the usual disclaimer. Don't own anything, if I did I would have made this a Lifetime or OWN movie and have a better bank account.**

Chapter Ten

Sam hadn't had an afternoon like this since he had hung out with Artie when the two first met at Vanderbilt. He couldn't stop laughing as he drove away from the Jones' home. Miss Mercy Jones did not know it, but he liked how she always had a quick response for whatever he dished out. She, like Artie, was quick to respond to anything he said and thought that he was being totally serious when he was just baiting them. After telling her family that they had been seeing each other for about a week which was technically true, she couldn't hold her peace and stood up with a look of extreme disgust on her face and denied it with such vehemence, that he felt the need to go to the Jones' bathroom to look in the mirror to make sure he still had his own face and had not turned into the Beast from _Beauty and the Beast_.

The only other woman whom he had been really interested in but who hadn't been interested in him and truly hadn't catered to him was his ex-wife at the end of their marriage. When he was at his lowest because of the PTSD, and she was at her lowest because she had miscarried their baby and was having fertility issues, she had constantly blamed him no matter how high his sperm count had been. It seemed as if she had been obsessed with getting pregnant, and when he was in the deepest throes of his depression, he had finally had enough and told her that if she didn't want to make love to him that he was not touching her. Having sex with her was hard enough for him as it was with the medication he was taking and his inability to sleep without nightmares jarring them both awake, but his wife using him for stud service only when she was ovulating had gotten old pretty quickly. His issues coupled with his stubborness to not jump her bones on command was the final straw that broke their relationship and caused her to file for divorce. He was too depressed to fight to keep her even though he had loved his wife he couldn't focus on her but the unrelenting darkness that seemed to follow him around. So, he let her have everything that she wanted including their home in lieu of having to pay her alimony.

Now, he had to deal with Miss Mercy's adverse reaction to him. She seemed to be appalled at the idea that he could be interested in pursuing her. And just like the man he was, the more she denied their attraction, the more he wanted her. He hadn't been in a lot of relationships because he attended an all boys prep school throughout his K-12 education. When he went to college, he was a little bit socially awkward around females. He only started getting bold enough to ask ladies out when he started hanging around Artie Abrams. Artie was a true ladies man and helped Sam develop game because he had none at all. He was always attracted to girls who had a Coke bottle body with an emphasis on a little waist, wide hips and a big butt, but those girls rarely paid him any attention, so he dated the cheerleader type who would barely eat and were all about their looks and his looks, and he never fell in love with any of them. But when he moved to Memphis a place known for its barbecue and other good foods, Sam had met a woman with curves, confidence, and character and had probably fallen in love too quickly because he had met and married Harmony in less than six months of knowing of her.

But, Mercy Jones was way more of a challenge than Harmony had been. Harmony was a free spirited artist who drew caricatures and made a good living because she was really fast with a pencil. She also worked at an art gallery that showcased some of her high brow art. She did not flee from him when he chased after her but it was the other way around. She saw him and wanted to draw him because of his mouth, and then he told her all the things he could do with his mouth and the rest was history. He bedded her then wedded her because after Artie's stabbing and the depressing nature of his job, he craved her hippy spirit and the love, laughter, and lightness she brought to his life. Mercy Jones brought out the same laughter and zest for life that he felt when he was falling for ex-wife. He couldn't help recalling the conversation that just happened earlier, and he couldn't see how he was going to make any inroads with her without a divine intervention.

"Sam and I are just friends; I mean not really friends because he is white, but we are acquaintances. He just happened to be at the club last night at the same time I was, so he was able to rescue me after the fight had gotten started…"

"What fight?" Sam heard all the adult voices ask at various times and even the kids finally looked interested in the conversation.

"There was a fight, that I didn't start, but my actions might have precipitated. It really wasn't my fault, but Chief Evans…"

"Sam," he interrupted her. She gave him a death glare and continued, "Sam got me out of there, and he came by today to inform me about the prevalence of date-rape drugs…" Mercy stopped when she looked over at her nephews who were now listening intently forgetting their desserts.

"Drugs at the club," Mrs. Jones said looking down at her own dessert in disgust.

After taking a deep breath, Mercy tried to calm her mother down by telling her that she hadn't seen any drugs at the club at all. "Don't worry about it mother, Sam told me what to look for, and I promise you that I will be careful."

Sam decided at that time to rescue Mercy and to get the boys' attentions off of fights, rape, and drugs. "Mercy Jones what's the big idea with me being white? I would have never imagined that you were a racist?" Sam had to hold in his laughter and appear to be serious, so he could set her off on a different tangent.

Mercy looked at him and realized what she had said earlier and was embarrassed about saying something that she would have only thought of and not voiced because it was rude. "There is nothing wrong with you being white; I have white friends, some of my best friends are white, but…"

"That's what all racist like to say. I am from Tennessee, and I can remember whenever someone confronted a white person about being racist, they would say, 'I have a black friend.' like that means anything. I thought you were above color." He said trying his best to look hurt and solemn as he began to dig into his dessert as if it was comfort food.

"I didn't mean it that way, Sam, I just meant that you were not the type of person that I am used to having as a friend. Most white men who befriend me are gay."

"Is that why you gave me the mauve gay test? I thought when you did that you saw me as a person worthy of friendship, because surely you would only give a gay test to someone that you thought was a friend."

Aunt Jo stopped eating her dessert and gasped when he mentioned the gay test and looked at her sister before asking even though she knew the answer, "Did you pass the test?"

"How do you know if you pass or fail. I did know what color mauve is, so what does that mean."

"I guess it means you are gay if it's a test to see if you are gay. But are you gay?" Her Aunt Jo said being messy, she knew that that he was not how he was looking at her niece, but she liked the way this Sunday dessert time was going and she didn't want it to end.

"Joanna Harris Nelson, you stop being rude to our guest." Marcia Jones said appalled at everybody's behavior at the table. She felt like she was in her high school classroom all over again.

"I am not gay and the reason why I passed or failed is because it wasn't a good test."

"Did you hear that Marcia, school teacher of the year, your gay test wasn't good enough like I said it wouldn't be. Did you ask him about puce?" Aunt Jo said turning from her sister and looking at Mercy who wanted to crawl under the table in horror.

"Yes, she did. I didn't know that color, so Mercy looked it up in the dictionary to prove to me that it was an actual color. I thought she had made it up." Sam couldn't contain his joy any longer and smiled so wide he felt as if his face was going to crack. He couldn't take his eyes off of Mercy who was looking as if she wanted to disappear and then decided to make a run for it. He grabbed her hand preventing her from leaving.

After they had finished with their desserts, Sam continued to stay at the Jones home for about an hour, and enjoyed his time there even more when they had moved to the spacious living room, and her mother had left the loveseat for the two of them to sit on. He took up more room in the seat by spreading his legs and crowding Miss Mercy on purpose. He would let his thigh brush hers, and he would often touch her on the arm which was easy to do this when he had put his arm on the back of the chair behind her head as soon as they had sat down. She was so embarrassed from earlier, that she appeared to be on her best of behavior, and she didn't berate him like he knew she wanted to do. He knew by the time that he had decided to leave that Mercy Jones wanted to kill him.

He should feel some remorse about baiting her the way that he did. But, he couldn't understand why she didn't like him or want to be friends with him. Of course, he wanted to get into her panties, but he hadn't alerted her to the fact. If she was horrified at the thought that her family had assumed they were seeing each other, then Sam knew he had a lot of work ahead of him in wearing her defenses against him down, so she wouldn't be disgusted at the thought of dating him. If he wasn't careful, she was more than likely to build the wall between them even higher, and he would have to spend more time in tearing that wall down. She had unfortunately brought out a side of him that he never knew existed, and he enjoyed her company and was willing to put up with her verbal abuse.

He had seen her checking him out and when he leaned over her today, he could feel the sparks that were waiting to ignite between the two of them. He figured that she hadn't ever been in a relationship and didn't know what to do about the feelings that he inspired in her. But he could tell by her outbursts that she was an extremely passionate woman who had limited if any experience with the opposite sex. He couldn't help the primal part of him that demanded that he be the one to teach her how to let go in the bedroom. He had never been so horny for a woman in all of his life.

Sam knew it was because he hadn't sex since before his divorce, and he couldn't remember the last time he had good sex, he just knew it was probably around five or six years ago. He had been set up by Artie, his mother, and Emma since then, but he just hadn't been interested in any of the women they had tried to set him up with. He felt that relationships were too much work, and he was on the rebound and recovering from PTSD, and he knew that getting serious about any woman at the time was stupid, and he wasn't stupid. When his broken heart had recovered from the loss of his baby, his friend, his wife, and the career he loved, he knew he was in a place to start a relationship with any of the eligible women who brought him casseroles and their pies, but he didn't feel the attraction for them that he now felt for Mercy Jones.

Mercy was so intelligent, old-fashioned, caring, uncomplicated, spicy, sassy, and with a good heart and most of all an honest nature except when she tried to lie and couldn't because she didn't have a clue on how to be dishonest, and she wasn't a manipulator who liked to play games like most women he had unfortunately met through the years. He only knew that even before her makeover that the men in Lima must have blind not to see how awesome she was, and he was willing to show her that he was the man for her even though he was now on her shit list. And he was going to do everything in his power to change this and get on her good side. The good thing about Mercy is that she could never stay mad at anyone long and was quick to forgive, and a person always knew where he or she stood with her. Man was he totally gone on her. That's what his friend Artie would say about him, and it was the truth.

He knew he was all set to chase after her and win her affections, but he knew now that he was going to have some competition because Miss Mercy had decided to go chasing after men herself. He was in law enforcement and good at picking up signals. All her signs were telling him quite loudly that she was on a manhunt. One she had changed her hair and clothes. Two she had started wearing makeup, and three she had started going out to clubs. If a man was what she was looking for, she didn't have to look far because he met the criteria and was even willing to volunteer to be her man, so she didn't have to go hunting anymore. He knew that if he told her this now, that she would have a meltdown to beat all meltdowns and turn him down in such a way that he might never recover. So, he had to keep his feelings for her a secret until he was able to convince her that he could truly be her type, if she gave him a chance.

Now, on top of all of this, he had to keep her safe while she indulged in the club scene. The scene that he was supposed to be investigating, but with Mercy showing up at any of the places that he would be posted at, he would be unable to do his job because he would only be able to keep his eyes on her. Because she was so naive and trusting, he knew that keeping her out of trouble would be a full time job. He wasn't worrying about a man drugging her, he was worried about them taking her kindness as a come-on and not knowing that she was a nice person and was looking to have fun and not hook up with a complete stranger. With the way she looked now with those newly discovered magnificent breasts and with her wearing clothes that showed off her ass, she was the epitome of sexiness. And he couldn't forget those legs that he noticed for the first time last night and saw the shape of them again today. He had explicit plans for those legs. He could imagine how he would love to kiss every inch of them before draping them over his shoulders as he made love to her. It seems like every time he saw her, he found a new part of her body to appreciate; first it was her eyes and mouth, later on it was her tiny waist and booty, then it was her boobs that she been hiding from him and everyone else, and now it was her legs.

He was getting an erection just thinking about her, so he had to change the way his thoughts were going. He couldn't get Mercy Jones out of his mind. But, he could sanitize his thoughts by thinking of the first time he truly saw her. He had known all along that she was cute with her pretty brown eyes, cute nose, and luscious lips, but it wasn't until he sat close to her in the library that he could tell how gorgeous and soft looking her brown skin was without any makeup on. His mom, his ex-wife, his sister, and his girlfriends had to slather on makeup to look as good as she did without trying at all. Her skin had a glow to it, and when he initially met her, he thought she was much too young to take a second look at her. It was when she got angry at him and started speaking like an old lady ordering him around, that he noticed her passionate nature and was officially interested in asking her out. He had decided after she upgraded the browser on his laptop, that he was going to start stopping by the library more to see her, but before he could do so, he had seen her last night at the Yucatan Club.

When he had seen that jerk pulling her into his lap, he almost took out several innocent bystanders as he made his way over to rescue her until he saw she had the situation well in hand. He only stepped in when he thought she might got hurt in the fights that started to break out. He didn't like the idea of that man having his hands on her at all. And he couldn't wait until Monday to see her again. He was going to wait until Monday to tell her the dangers of clubbing, but he couldn't get her out of his head after seeing her makeover. Mercy Jones was going to be his Achilles heel, but he couldn't stop his pursuit because the heart wanted what the heart wanted.

* * *

Puckerman must not be that rat that Brody Weston had compared to him to being. He was more like the cat chasing prey at nightclubs and drugging them now that he was avoiding his job. Even more like a cat, the dude now appeared to have nine lives. He had finally came out and as soon as he purchased the GHB at the Yucatan Club, Brody had been notified. However by the time he had arrived to take care of him, Puckerman had disappeared and only sheriff deputies were there obviously setting things straight after a massive strings of fights that had broken out. Brody was pissed off because if he had only gotten there thirty minutes earlier, he could have handled Puckerman with a broken bottle wound that would have looked like he had gotten stabbed during the fight.

The only good news was that Puckerman felt brave enough to go back to his usual hunting grounds instead of hiding away from the world. Because he was unable to finish his plan of raping one of the women from the club, Brody was sure that Puckerman would return. He was just upset that Puckerman had gotten away after the bartender who owed him a favor had seen Puck buying GHB then ordering a Coke from him before he began stirring the GHB in the Coke.

Weston couldn't get the missed opportunity of taking care of Puckerman out of his mind. He knew how Clarington and Remington would react if they knew what had happened. To come up with a better system of responding to a Puckerman sighting, Brody decided to visit the bartender on Sunday to develop a plan.

When Mason saw Weston at his door, he wasn't happy or surprised. "I did what you told me to, I called you as soon as I spotted him. But with the fight breaking out, I couldn't keep him in my line of vision, and I am sure he like everybody else was trying to leave before the cops arrived."

"I know you did what I asked, but I was just wondering if you saw him talking to anybody."

"Like I told you on the phone, I didn't notice him until I saw him purchasing the GHB and then he came up to me to order two drinks. He bought a beer for himself and a Coke that I saw him slip and mix GHB into."

Brody knew that it wouldn't take long for Puck to want to sleep with someone dosed with GHB, and he tried but failed to complete his mission because of the fights that broke out. He wouldn't forget his prey. He knew that Puck would return to the club and see if he could pick up where he left off. He wasn't sure if Puckerman and the lady would return this week to the club, but he knew he couldn't just hang out at this particular club in hopes that he would.

"Just make sure you call me as soon as you see him. I don't believe that he will show up on a weeknight because most people work and do not come to clubs on the weeknight, and he would be noticed dragging a half-conscious woman out of the club. He will probably wait until Ladies Night or when the club is filled to capacity."

Mason was relieved that Weston wasn't angry at him for not notifying him of Puckerman's presence earlier last night. He grinned up at him when Weston gave him a hundred dollar bill. "Don't you worry the next time he is at the club, you will know because I will watch the door like a hawk to see him as he arrives. He could come when I am with a customer, but I notify you as soon as he arrives if he comes near the bar and not straight to the dance floor like he did the last time."

"It was not your fault. Unless you are a psychic, there was no way you would know that a full on brawl would erupt before I was able to get here." Brody left Mason feeling a tad bit better. Mason was a nice man who just happened to have a habit that his job as a bartender couldn't cover, so he worked as a male prostitute to fund his need for nose candy. Brody had met him when he tried to pick him up, instead of getting offended because Brody himself had to sleep with women for money at one point in his life, he gave the man some money and took him to get some breakfast and learned his whole story. Brody felt sorry for the man, but he didn't feel sorry enough to spare his life. Once he had taken care of Puckerman, he was going to take care of Mason with a convenient drug overdose. A true professional knew the importance of eliminating potential witnesses especially those that were addicts, they were the most unpredictable ones.

* * *

Cooper looked outside when he heard the sounds of an automobile pulling up into his driveway. He left his comfortable recliner and went to unlock the door before greeting his guest. "Tell me what happened last night at the Yucatan." He said as he led the man into the kitchen and poured him a cup of coffee.

"Your candidate was really busy on the dance floor," Will Schuester told the man. He had had curly light brown hair and was of an average build. His looks gave him the privilege of blending in most settings.

"Did any men try to hook up with her?"

"Your girl had men all over her. They wouldn't have paid her the least bit of attention if she had been dressed like everybody else, but she looked like someone you would see in rap star's video who played the girlfriend and not the video vixen."

Cooper couldn't keep the smile off his face. He was proud of the work he had done with Mercy and pleased that she didn't want to go the slutty route but understated sex kitten was a look he knew would draw men to her. "Did anyone give her a drink?"

"The woman didn't have time to drink. She was on the dance floor almost as soon as she got there. She danced for a long time, then the fights started, and the last time I had seen her in the club, some tall man had her slung over his shoulders and were carrying her out of the club."

"Why didn't you stop this, did she know the man?"

"I followed them outside of the club, but the man only talked to her before making sure she got to her car safely, and she drove away from the club alone."

"Did you know who this man was?"

"I have never seen him before. He wasn't one of the men that she danced with. They were arguing but I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I know that she was mad at him and left mad because she sprayed gravel at him when she drove off right before the cops shows up." Schuester took a drink of his coffee before continuing. "I don't believe that this is a good plan."

"I know it's not a good plan, but it is better than not doing anything at all. She is the perfect decoy. She is so sweet and nice and clueless that she won't know how to be careful."

"Most women are not careful when they are partying. Mix alcohol in any situation and things will not go as planned like the bar fight. With brawls breaking out, how do you think that I will be able to keep an eye on her at every moment? And what if she decides to go out and doesn't tell you?"

"Don't worry. I will be her new BFF and call her every day to check out her progress. She will tell me whenever she's going out, and I can lead her to the places that are under our suspicion."

"Do you really think she is going to be the bait that will help us in catching our elusive prey?"

"Good thing you mentioned bait, because that is what we are doing-fishing. We are using the bait to lure the shark to bite. And she was going to go out to clubs anyways, and with us doing this, at least we can protect her by having you keep your eyes on her at all times."

"Do you think that I enjoy going to clubs and doing this. I do not enjoy the club scene and dancing with women who probably have venereal diseases. On my own private time, I prefer watching reality TV. Big Brother is about to come on, and you know how I love that show."

"That's what Tivo is for. Record them now and watch the episodes later. It's not like they are not going to put the episodes on the Internet for your viewing pleasure."

"I hate you, kiss my ass."

"In your dreams buttercup."

"I can't believe you got everybody thinking you are gay until I heard you just then. We need to stop playing around and get serious about the job we came here to do. You need to leave your revenge scheme alone and let the local police handle it."

"The local police cannot even catch his ass, and I am not doing anything to keep them from doing their jobs."

"You might not be doing anything, but what are you plans when we catch this scumbag, turn him over to the local sheriff office?"

"I will get my revenge and then what's left of him will go to the local police. And I am busy building up my cover story."

"Whatever, you are not working at night because you don't have to go to some lame ass bars and clubs and dance the night away."

"She won't be going every night. She has a new home, and she will be busy getting it ready. She will probably only go out on Friday and Saturday nights."

"You are out of your mind if you think you can predict what a woman will do."

"I promise you that I will call her every day after she leaves the library to make sure. I really like her and don't want anything to happen to her."

"So, what happens when our boss call us in, and she just happens to decide to go out that night without telling you?"

"I don't believe she will okay. This case hasn't broken in two years, and I don't see it breaking anytime soon."

"Just cause you don't see it doesn't mean it can't happen, and my conscious will never be the same if something happens to her just because we weren't there, and she ends up getting hurt."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Thanks again for all of your continued support. Remember I own nothing and read and enjoy the insanity that I call Mercy Ann Jones' life. Poor Sam is just digging himself a deeper grave LOL. But he and Mercy are both crazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzy, so I think they could actually be made for each other...**

Chapter Eleven

Mercy realized that it was going to take more than a change in her appearance to let men know that she wasn't the boring, old maid, and old-fashioned librarian anymore. She decided that she needed to show her adventurous side by going to Hummel's Pharmacy and buying some condoms.

She was going to Hummel's and not Walmart or CVS for a reason. Burt Hummel who owned the pharmacy knew everyone in Lima because he was not only a pharmacist, but he was also an active member of the city council. His wife, Carol, worked as the only cashier in the pharmacy, and she didn't know how to keep people's purchases private. The only person in town who gossiped more than Carol Hummel was Roz Washington. It was because of Carol that everybody knew that a certain member of the city council was taking Cialis for erectile dysfunction. Mercy knew by the end of the day that everybody in Lima would know that she had purchased condoms.

She was taking this drastic measure, all because of Sam Evans. He took the joy of going to nightclubs which probably were her best hunting grounds for a future mate away from her. She also realized that they were some eligible men in Lima who worked at the college and other locations that she hadn't met and wasn't likely to meet in Findlay in a club. Since she wanted to keep her job at the library and live in Lima, then it was in her best interests to find a man who already lived there. The problem was that she hadn't been able to find any single local men that she had met that were her age and older who were single and interested in her. There were some men like Phil Lipoff who was single, but he was single for a reason. He had bad B.O. and no woman would be interested in him. She just knew him because his mother attended her church.

Mercy could just imagine what the local gossip was going to be like once she bought the condoms. 'Did you hear about Jane's sister Mercy, or Aunt Jo's niece Mercy, or their former teacher Mrs. Jones; daughter Mercy?' 'No, I didn't hear.' 'Well according to Carol Hummel, she bought out their store's supply of condoms.' 'What does she need all those condoms for?' And then she would be talk of the town and probably have men coming out from all over to the library just to get a look at her. She knew enough about the men in Lima to weed out the freaks, but she figured a lot of them would stop being interested in her when they found out, that she wasn't going to use any of the condoms because she had no interest in sleeping with them. She was just buying the condoms to build up her reputation as a desirable lady who believed in practicing safe sex.

As soon as she left the library during her lunch hour to complete her mission, she was dismayed upon arriving at the pharmacy and seeing how complicated buying condoms was. She stood on the aisle and looked at all the boxes. She never knew there was such a variety in choices. And she didn't know what sexy women bought these days for pleasurable and safe lovemaking. There was a brand called Rough Riders that she thought must be for the freaky, and she didn't want a reputation as a freak. Then, she saw that some condoms were ribbed and/or lubricated and flavored. She decided the reason why the Hummel pharmacy had all of these condoms was because nobody in town purchased condoms from them. She picked up a box called Night Light Condoms and wondered if they glowed in the dark. When she got tired reading all the condom boxes, she finally settled on buying a box of Fantasy Assorted condoms. It had the best name and should have condoms of every type included. Before she could talk herself out of buying them, she put the box on the counter in front of Carol Hummel.

"Oh, hello Mercy Ann. How are your mother and Aunt Joanna doing?" Carol asked before she picked up the box to ring it up. She was always being nosey asking about people, so she could tell everybody else their business. When she noticed the box of condoms, she screamed, "Mercy Ann Jones!"

Mercy heard someone come up behind her, but she didn't turn around to see who it was. She knew Carol was supposed to ring up the box of the condoms, but the woman pretended like she had never sold condoms a day in her life. It was like she had immobilized the woman with shock.

After watching the woman go from pink to white to red, Mercy didn't expect the lady to lean over and whisper to her, "Do you think your mother would approve of you buying these?" Mercy was just glad that she had whispered and had not asked that question for everyone to hear. She was so tired of these people who thought she needed her mother's permission. She was a grown woman, and if buying these condoms would finally get the message penetrated through the people of Lima's head, then she would be back to buy some more to ensure it stayed.

Mercy replied with extra venom to her voice out loud so everyone could hear. "I don't think, so but I am sure you will make sure that she knows."

As soon as Mercy spoke, she recognized the voice of the person behind her. "What is taking you so long? Some people are in a hurry, just ring them up."

Mercy felt the blood drain out of her body. It couldn't be no it couldn't be Sam Evans behind her. Before she could say anything, Carol Hummel turned purple and quickly rung up the condoms because she feared the chief of police. She told Mercy the total, and Mercy quickly paid and waited for Carol to place the box in a bag and give her receipt and change. For the first time, Carol Hummel didn't tell her have to have a nice day, and Mercy didn't say thanks to a person who had waited on her.

What irritated Mercy more than this was that Chief Evans didn't make any purchases but held the door for her and waited until she walked out the pharmacy and then began walking with her. "Have you lost your mind? You need to go back into the drugstore and buy whatever you came in there to get."

"I don't buy anything from that pharmacy; everybody knows what a busybody Carol Hummel is."

"Well, why did you go in there to shop?"

"Because I saw you go inside and I wanted to talk to you. You sure bought a lot of condoms. Do you know how many are inside that jumbo box?"

"I am not going to talk about this with you." She said looking away from him and down to the box of condoms in her hands. When she came up with this plan to get men to notice her because she was being gossiped about, she never intended for him to notice her, and she didn't want him walking with her with the condoms now after Carol Hummel had probably closed down the store to tell everybody that Chief Evans and Mercy Jones came to the pharmacy which was the closest to their job during their lunchtime to buy a box of condoms. The police chief had even said he was in a hurry. "She probably has told at least five people by now that I bought these condoms for you."

"I don't need you to buy condoms for me. If I needed some, I would have bought some myself from CVS." Sam said intentionally being obtuse.

"Don't act like you don't know what I mean. She thought we were buying the condoms for us to use…"

"Even if we went at it like rabbits, I know that it would be impossible to use that many condoms during our lunch break. How many were in the box about 144 condoms. That would mean we would be using a different condom every thirty seconds. I don't intend to ever try that and be able to walk afterwards. I don't mind using one every other hour maybe five in a day with breakfast nookie, lunchtime tango, afternoon delight, bedtime loving, and maybe some hot shower sex afterwards, but 144 is way too much."

Mercy Jones tried to convince herself that she was dreaming as she brought the bag close to her body and held up hands in a motion that resembled someone saying a prayer. No, not dreaming, she was actually in the middle of a nightmare. She started to hyperventilate when she visualized her and Sam Evans having sex that many times in one day.

"Are you alright, it seems that you may have overheated. Do you want to go to the Lima Bean and get an iced drink? I don't want you to fall out on this sidewalk."

Mercy couldn't stop herself from looking up at him with wonder and anger, "Don't you realize that Carol Hummel has more than likely called my mom and half of Lima to tell them that we bought a jumbo box of Fantasy assorted condoms during our lunchbreak, and that if anybody could have just overhead what you just said, you would have ruined all of my plans?"

"Well, it seems to me that we need to spend our lunch hour somewhere public where they are witnesses and there is no place better than the Lima Bean. Fantasy assorted condoms, I wonder what is in the assortment. I bet it would be interested to see. Will you give me the bag so that I can see what is all included?"

"Hell to the NO!" She said as she reached for the sack keeping it safely against her chest.

"I do believe that you are breaking a city ordinance by having pornographical material on the streets of Lima." Sam said not showing Mercy he was laughing inside. He just made that up, and he wondered if she would take the bait.

"That is ridiculous. Condoms are used for health purposes, so they are considered a health-aid product and not pornography."

"Just your run of the mill average condoms are considered health-aid, but there is gotta be something freaky in a brand that is called Fantasy. You probably need to hand them over, so I can check for you. You don't want to ruin your perfect law-abiding reputation, do you?"

Mercy didn't believe anything he was saying, but nothing today had gone as planned. She should just give him the box and leave him on the street, so he could leave her alone. She decided it was in her best interest just to hand over the bag to him.

What he did next shocked her to the core. He didn't just take the bag with him, but he pulled the box out of the bag and began to read aloud the different types of condoms included and because she didn't have enough sense to come inside while it was raining, she listened to him as he described the condoms. "These water-based lubricated condoms with a reservoir tip come in a variety of colors: orange, black, green, blue, yellow, purple and red. The flavored condoms included are banana (yellow), vanilla (white), strawberry (red), mint (green), chocolate (brown), and grape (purple)." I am shocked Mercy Ann Jones; I didn't figure you were the type who liked freaky condoms. And flavored, what do you have mind in doing with flavored condoms?"

"I didn't plan on tasting them." She said before she could stop herself. "Who would want to have sex with someone wearing a green, orange, black, red, yellow, or purple condom?"

Sam couldn't hold back his laughter. The idea that Mercy Jones had been buying flavored condoms for oral sex made his lower region tingle but the look on her face after she asked her question was complete terror.

"Stop laughing at me, Sam Evans," she said and when this only made him laugh harder she pulled the box of condoms out of his hands, she had paid thirty dollars for them, and she wasn't going to allow him to take them in the police station proving to everyone that she had in fact purchased them for him.

While she stomped off in a run towards the library, she heard him trying to catch his breath and stop her, but she didn't stop, she went up the stairs to the door of the library and walked in as if she was queen of the world. It was only when she got to the counter that she realized what was in her hands and the reason why Sam Evans was trying to stop her but couldn't because he had fallen over on a parked car laughing so hard that tears were streaming down his face.

When Marley saw Mercy enter the library with the jumbo box of condoms, she couldn't stopped herself from screaming, "Mercy Jones what do you have!" before remembering she was in a library and lowered her voice pointing towards the box of condoms.

Mercy realized that she could cringe with embarrassment and stutter like the old Mercy or she could play it off like she meant to come back to work with a box of condoms. She decided to play it off and looked Marley in the eye and said, "I just bought a bunch of condoms." She immediately went to her office and shut the door after saying this.

"I heard through the grapevine that somebody bought a jumbo pack of condoms." Cooper was so grateful that he had heard this because it gave him the excuse he needed to call Mercy.

"I am sure that grapevine has made sure that you, my mom, my aunt, most of my church, and all of Lima who know or are somehow affiliated with Carol Hummel and Marley Rose, know."

"But the juiciest bit of the gossip was that you and Chief Evans used half of the box during your lunchtime. Please tell me that is true. Inquiring minds have got to know."

"That's a rude and vicious lie! I went straight back to work! I knew that Carol Hummel would assume this and not just tell the truth but turn it into a salacious lie."

"Well, she said that he came into the drugstore right after you and came up behind you when you went to purchase the box, and he didn't purchase anything, but told her to hurry up, and then immediately left with you."

"He has ruined everything that I set out to accomplish today." Mercy said sitting down on her bed.

"How could he have done that?"

"Because people are going to think that the police chief and I are…"

"What having a hot and kinky affair?"

"Yes, and this means that no other men in town will be willing to ask me out. How am I going to get married if no man from Lima is willing to date me because they are afraid that they might anger the chief of police?"

"I can see how you would think that. Sam Evans is an impressive example of manhood and not many would be willing to stand up to him."

"He is not that intimidating, I am talking about fearing legal retaliation that Sam would be waiting to arrest them from speeding or jaywalking. Anyways, I bought the condoms and wasted thirty dollars for nothing because of him."

"Why do you say that?"

"I didn't buy those condoms to use them. I bought them knowing that Carol would tell anyone and everyone that I had purchased them, so that the single man in Lima would find out and think that I am interesting and worth checking out. That was my plan, and now Sam Evans has ruined it. I will have to focus on the men that I meet in nightclubs and hope that the one I fall in love with will be willing to move to Lima, so that I am able to keep my job."

"Speaking of clubs, are you going to one tonight?"

"No way, I have too much to do to be ready to move. Rick Nelson has finally finished with painting, and now I can purchase furniture and appliances and have them delivered so I can move in."

"Do you have any particular furniture in mind?"

"Because the house is small, I am looking for something that will seat people but won't take up too much space."

"Are you interested in buying only new furniture? The reason I am asking that is because if you would like to go to auctions with me, you could buy some quality pieces and only pay a fraction of the cost that you would pay for it if it was new."

All he had to do was say saving money, and Mercy was immediately sold on the idea. "Where, when, and how do I go about doing this?" She asked eagerly.

"I am going to one on tomorrow night, and I would love to have you accompany me. We can have your house furnished and fully decorated in no time at all."

Because of Cooper's help, Mercy was able to move into her house on Friday. She was so busy with work and moving that she didn't have time to think about Sam Evans. And she really didn't have time to care what people were saying about her behind her back. After she explained the situation to her mother and aunt, she was able to move forward and concentrate on moving. She had spent time buying linens, cookware, dishes, groceries, brooms, mops, vacuums, and other cleaning agents that she had to use to clean the house before she could move in.

The day that she moved in Cooper had the utmost joy in telling the ones who remained after helping her move (her mother, her aunt, her brother-in law, and her sister) how Mercy had gotten addicted to going to auctions. "She was lethal." Outbidding people had become her crack, she was nonchalantly winning bids left and right for lamps, Oriental rugs, end tables, tea carts, stackable metal stools to go with a charming kitchen cart that she could use for storage and extra seating when she had guests over for a meal. She had even bidded on and won a rocking recliner that matched the the small sectional sofa and ottoman set that she had gotten on her first day with Cooper going to auctions. The two went to auctions every night until she was finally ready to move on Friday.

After Cooper and her family and neighbors helped her move the stuff in, Mercy's family and Cooper remained to help her unpack. Her mother and aunt were in charge of sorting things, while Cooper help finished the decorating and helped Mercy along with Anthony with all the heavy lifting. The furniture was delivered and installed by the local appliance store who were cheaper in delivery than Home Depot and Lowe's. It didn't matter if the appliances were slightly higher in cost because they gave her the better deal with installation. Her sister and her husband had left at dinner time to take the kids to Anthony's mother house to spend the night and had returned. While Mercy remained busy that night putting her clothes in the closet, her books in her bookcase, and then she settled down for her first night in her apartment with her guests.

At seven o'clock her mother had returned with a lasagna big enough to feed everyone and to celebrate Mercy's first night in her own home. Mercy made sure that her mother and Aunt Jo were seated at the charming two person kitchen table, and she, Cooper, her sister, and Anthony were seated on the stools around the kitchen cart.

"I want to thank all for all of the hard work and time that you have given to me in helping me move in. I can't believe that I was able to get everything done in two weeks with your help."

"You were a slave driver making sure we obeyed your every command, so I am not surprised that we did it so quickly." Cooper said before taking another bite of the lasagna. "Mrs. Jones there is an ingredient in this that I can't figure out, but this is the best lasagna that I have ever eaten in my life. You need to open up a restaurant. You can become a millionaire just selling this dish alone."

"It's cinnamon in the lasagna. My mom gave me the secret years ago when she was reaching for cayenne pepper and mistakenly put cinnamon in her spaghetti sauce, and I have been doing it ever since. It gives the meal a different taste. And I don't need to open a restaurant, I have my family and my health, which is worth way more than a million bucks."

"Cooper, you are going to have slow your roll. You have made my sister a fashionista and auction junkie and now you are trying to turn my mother into a restaurateur. I can't take any more changes. I am afraid the next time I come to Lima, you will have convinced Aunt Jo to take her comedy routine on the road."

This caused everybody to burst into laughter. Once Jane had heard of the great condom debacle, she had stopped being as jealous of her sister as she initially was. No matter the makeover, her sister would never be a person that would be considered cool, so she felt her place in the family dynamic was safe. Of course, she still took up for her big sister when people called her to gossip about her. She could talk about her sister, but nobody else was allowed to talk about anyone in her family to her.

"I will stop waiting on publishing those videos of her stand up routine on YouTube, and I will begin to launch your Aunt Jo's career immediately, and with Mrs. Nelson on the road, I know your mother will be lonely and easily convinced to open up a restaurant because food like this is too good not to be shared."

"And paid for because she shares this food with homeless shelters, churches, and other organizations for free."

"Your are absolutely right, Mrs. Nelson." Cooper said before turning to Mercy, "I hoped that you changed the locks on all the doors."

"That was the first thing that I had done. I have two keys of my own, and my mother has a copy as well as my landlady. I know better than to leave old locks on a rental property."

"She is also getting a dog, by the way Mercy, I have a friend whose dog had a litter of puppies several weeks ago, if you want, I can check and see is she still has any left."

"I don't think she needs a puppy; surely, a grown and trained dog would be better." Cooper inserted before Mercy could go all gaga.

"No, I want a puppy. I want a warm, small and wiggly pup who needs a good home." She said and then went about cleaning up as everybody was getting up to go to their homes.

Cooper lingered around helping her clean up and when everyone had left asked, "Are you going to any clubs tomorrow night?"

Mercy still wasn't finished with everything she needed to get done in the house, but maybe she could find a couple hours to kick back and have fun. "I might. I really liked the dancing and I have been practicing how to do the juju, so I should impress Jake if he is there."

"Be careful and have fun Twinkle Toes." Cooper said as he headed towards the door.

"I will and thanks again for everything." Mercy gave him a hug as she watched him leave her house. She was truly grateful that she had found such a good friend in Cooper Anderson.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: When I get that feeling I need...Anyways, I think Mercy is starting to get that feeling in this chapter and no there will be no tearing up the sheets. I kinda left a cliffhanger but don't despair, I am working on the next chapter, so you won't have long to wait to read what happens next. I can't take any credit because it's not mine, but I do take all credit for mistakes those homonyms are my downfall and other things that spell check just doesn't catch.**

Chapter Twelve

Mason didn't know why he promised Weston that he would let him know as soon as Puckerman entered the Yucatan Club when he knew that Saturday night was their busiest night, and the night that Puckerman was bound to show since he hadn't all week, and of course, Mason was busy working really hard filling drink orders. When he first noticed Puckerman, the guy had been there talking up a petite blonde with too much makeup on her face who was not paying him any attention, Mason didn't have a clue how long the man had actually been in the club.

Mason didn't glance their way again hoping that Puckerman hadn't noticed him staring at him intently. Since the man was already drinking a beer, he had obviously ordered a drink from a waitress and hadn't came near the bar. That was probably why Mason didn't see him earlier. He didn't hesitate in texting Weston, to let him know that Puck was there.

Weston immediately texted him back saying that he was tied up and couldn't make it to the club since he had to go out of the state for some last minute business. He asked Mason to be sure to notify him the next time that Puckerman came to the club.

After reading Mason's text confirming that he would, Weston called two of his men and told them to meet him at the Yucatan Club in forty-five minutes. He informed the men that they needed to come prepared. After this, Brody pulled on his blonde wig, put his brown contact lenses in, and put on his heeled boots that made him several inches taller. The final touch to his disguise was placing a pillow underneath his shirt, and when he left his house, he made sure he had the Georgia driver's license that stated his name was Gunner Dean Collins, and his disguise matched the description and the photo.

He knew his disguise would be obvious in the daytime, but at night, nobody who saw him would think that he was Brody Weston. Brody never dealt with an extermination without having a backup plan in case shit hit the fan. He didn't even plan on doing anything at the club to Puckerman but had actually planned to take him somewhere else. Due to the last fight that had happened at the Yucatan, he wouldn't be surprised to see the police there, so he had replaced the license plate on the car he borrowed from a friend with one he had switched out from Georgia. He felt a sense of excitement knowing that tonight would be the last night that he would ever have to worry about Puckerman again.

Mercy couldn't shake the foreboding feeling she had while she got ready to go back to the Yucatan. It took a lot of boldness for her to go back to the place that she was the impetus to a full out brawl. Hopefully, there wouldn't be anybody there who could recognize her as being the one that provided the distraction and prompted the first fight. She tried to think who would have actually been around to remember her crushing the guy's scrotum. Only Chief Evans, the guy whose balls she had squashed, and maybe one or two people who had been sitting close by, and with a club that big and all the drinking going on, she was sure that she should be safe from being recognized.

When she got to the club, she couldn't force herself to get out of the car. Even though she was supposed to have a new look and a new lease on life, she couldn't stop being Mercy Jones and feeling the timidity that she felt. After her recent condom plan failed, she felt if she couldn't be more embarrassed if she tried. So, she should have the strength to go into a club where nobody knew her name. As she reached over to open the door, she just couldn't bring herself to get out.

She had picked out a red dress to wear tonight, and when she took a selfie and sent it to her Aunt Jo and mother, Aunt Jo had texted back that she looked really hot and to make sure she brought condoms just in case lol. Her hair was still straight but some of the curl pattern was coming back which made her hair look fuller. She had worn subtle makeup nothing that would sweat off and make her look a hot mess after all the dancing that she planned on doing. The capped sleeve dress had a fitted waist and a full skirt that stopped at her knees which made it flowy enough that she would be able to move easily. The only accessories she wore were gold earrings, a gold necklace, and the gold anklet, with some more sensible padded red and gold L`Artiste rubber heeled sandals that should be more comfortable for dancing than the wedges she wore last week.

After drumming her fingers on the steering wheel, she realized that she was being the old Mercy and not the new Mercy. She was just getting ready to get out of her car, when she saw three men come out of the club, and the light from the club allowed her to see their faces. She didn't recognize two of the men, but the one man in middle looked very familiar. She didn't know if she recognized him from the library or from her last visit to the club. She sat there and watched them, as they brought the man to another man who got out of the car as they got near him. Then, all four of them headed to a pickup truck that was parked four places down. While this was going down, another car pulled up into the club's parking lot. With their car lights, she could see all four men clearly.

Because she was self-conscious, she didn't want to get out of her car with four men outside. So, she decided to wait until they left before she would enter the club. As she kept watching them waiting for them to leave, she saw that one of the men appeared to be drunk as a skunk as he had two men supporting him on each side as they dumped in on back of the truck. She was glad that they supported his head as to not injure him. He apparently had already passed out because he wasn't moving once they put him there. She wondered if he had been accidentally dosed with GHB. All three of the men had been walking fine when he left the club and to suddenly see him fall out like that was strange.

Mercy kept watching them as the two men who had brought him out the club drove off in the pickup truck. The fourth man returned to his car. She no longer thought about them because she had no excuses for not entering the club. There were no strange men outside, so she breathed in and breathed out and forced herself to get out of her Explorer, lock the door, and head into the club.

Unbeknownst to Mercy, she was being watched. Brody Weston sat in his car and was about to drive off until he saw a petite black woman exit her car and head into the club. He immediately began to break out in a cold sweat. Where had she come from and why hadn't he noticed her? Had she been out there the entire time and witnessed Puckerman being taken care of? It didn't matter if she saw anything or not, it had been too dark for her to see anything.

But, there was a chance and she was a loose end, and Brody didn't believe in leaving loose ends alive. Things had already gone off plan. Initially, they were not going to take care of Puckerman in the parking lot, but when the car pulled up, Puckerman suddenly realized who Brody was with the bright headlights shining from the vehicle and tried to call out for help. So, Cooter hadn't given him enough time to utter the He in Help before he stabbed him in the throat. Brody had intended to use GHB to take care of Puckerman. He figured it would be karma and doing the world a social service. He was going to have Puckerman ingest enough of the stuff to kill four men, and then he was going to leave the body, so it would be quickly found, so the cops would know that it was a GHB overdose.

He couldn't do this now because Cooter had stabbed him in the throat to make sure Puckerman wasn't able to scream. There would be traces of blood in the parking lot, and the police were going to be sure to question people at the club about it, if the blood was discovered. And what if the mystery woman knew Puckerman, she might remember too much when she saw on the news that he had been stabbed. Brody couldn't leave anything to chance, so he got out of his car and walked over to where he had seen her walking from. He jotted down all the tag numbers of the cars and thought about going inside the club to try and find her. She was dressed too classy for the Yucatan and would be easily spotted.

However, what if Mason was able to recognize him in his disguise which was a possibility because Puck somehow had. He had told the man that he was too busy and out of state and wouldn't be able to come to the club. Now with Puckerman dead, he couldn't risk showing up inside the club. He would have to remain at the club and wait until the woman left and then follow her home to take care of her. He really should have followed Cooter and Roderick to make sure that they properly disposed of Puckerman by dumping him in the right place. He would have to trust that his buddy, Roderick knew not to act in haste because if the body was found with trace evidence, they would all go down. He couldn't leave because he had to make sure that the woman was taken care of tonight.

* * *

Mercy entered the club and before she could even get in the bouncers were already throwing out two unruly clubbers. She hoped that she would be able to get in a couple of dances before they shut the club down. She was going to have to ask Cooper to recommend to her a better club because she didn't know if she was interested in dating anybody who thought coming to the Yucatan was the best way to spend their Saturday nights.

As she headed to the dance floor, she felt an arm wrap around her waist propelling her unto the dance floor. "Hey, foxy lady do you remember me?"

"Uh, no," Mercy said as she looked up at him and saw a tall dark man who as big as the bouncers with a mustache on his face.

"Sure, you do. I know that you didn't forget dancing with me last week."

"I am not senile or crazy; I only danced with four men last week. Their names were Jake, Spencer, Howard, and David. You definitely don't look like any of them."

"You caught me there; I just really wanted to dance with you last week and that brawl prevented me from getting a chance. I am Shane by the way. Do you mind dancing with me tonight?"

Since it was a fast song that the DJ was playing and everybody was dipping, dropping, and dabbing, Mercy decided that she didn't mind allowing him to dance with her since he wouldn't have to hold her in his arms.

"Are you going to tell me your name or should I simply refer to you as the lady in red?" Shane asked as soon as the song was finished playing.

"My name is Mercy."

"Tell me that you are here alone. I could buy you a drink, and we can find a table and get to know each other better."

As soon as he said buy a drink, Mercy froze. She hoped that he wasn't one of the men that Chief Evans had warned her about. "I'm here with some friends. They are at the bar, but I didn't want anything to drink right now, so that's why I headed to the dance floor."

"That's cool, I am going to go get something drink, hopefully you will save a dance for me later." Shane said and walked off.

That was really weird, Mercy thought as she looked around. If she didn't count the man whose balls she squashed, she had met six men at the Yucatan, and she hadn't been attracted to any of them. All of them minus Howard had been physically attractive to her, but Howard was the only one she could see herself having a conversation with. She hoped she wasn't being too picky. She looked around and saw Howard dancing up a storm, and she waved at him. She wouldn't mind dancing with him again. She just wasn't that in to him. Jake had been the best dancer, and she was hoping she would see him, but the next person she recognized was the man who had pulled her into his lap.

He glanced up and saw her and looked as if he was terrified of her. Well, she shouldn't feel guilty, because he was wrong to do what he did. If he had never forced her unto his lap, then she wouldn't have unintentionally smashed his testicles to the chair. Well, she didn't want to feel as if she should avoid him all night, so she started to walk towards him to apologize.

One look at her coming in his direction made the man try to get through the crowds and go to the men's restroom. Unfortunately for him there was a line, and Mercy was able to catch up with him even though she had been stopped and asked to dance by three different people that she didn't know, and one of them was a female. He had his back towards her as he waited patiently in the line, so she tapped him on his shoulder to get his attention.

As soon as he turned around and saw her face, the man jumped off of his feet and tried to move away from her. "Don't touch me or come near me." He said looking at her if she was the little girl from the _Exorcist_.

Mercy wanted to do what he said because he truly seemed afraid of her, but before he could tell her the power of Christ compels you, she needed to convince him that she didn't come with evil intentions. "I am just coming to apologize for hurting you. You should never do what you did to anybody, but I didn't mean to hurt you."

The man looked at her as if she had lost her mind. She had come to apologize. He didn't expect this and blinked before asking, "why are you apologizing to me?"

"I didn't intend to do what I did. It truly was an accident. I was only trying to get out of your lap and my hand just happened to go to the wrong place. I truly didn't mean to injure your testicles."

As if remembering the pain all over again, he reacted as if she had kicked him in the balls with his face turning purplish red and muttered, "please just leave me alone. I will accept your apology, if you promise to just stay away from me."

His words shocked Mercy. She truly was trying to do the Christian thing and love her enemy, and this was the response she had gotten. She never asked to be accosted, and she didn't mean to injure him. She was about to inform him of this when she noticed someone coming up beside her.

"Don't worry, I will make sure the little lady doesn't hurt you." The voice said sarcastically causing Mercy to look up into the green eyes of her nemesis Chief Evans.

Before she could utter a word, he had pulled her onto the dance floor and began dancing with her. "You are like a bad penny always showing up when I don't you around me."

"Aw come on you know you really truly love it when you see my smiling face."

"Why are you always up in my personal space?" She said as a slow song by the in house band began to play. Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" was one of her favorite songs and _The Bodyguard_ was one of her favorite movies, so she relented and danced with him again knowing that it would be a big mistake. The words that came out of his mouth next confirmed her beliefs.

"I got to stick close to you, so that I can get you out of the troubles that seem to follow you around you. It's like you are a magnet."

"Me getting into trouble and you rescuing me." She said as she looked up at him noticing that even with heels on, she was still way shorter than his six foot plus height. "I admit that you got me out of here last week, and I am truly grateful that you did. But since then, _you_ have been the reason why I have been having troubles."

"I know you are not blaming me for that condom fiasco. You are the one that bought enough condoms that would last most people a year, and I tried to stop you from going into the library with them, but you ignored me. Inquiring minds want to know if you have used any of them yet?"

Mercy knew that if a black person could turn purplish red, then she would be that color. All the blood went to her face as she thought of the reply she wanted to give him, but she knew she wouldn't please the Lord with the words that were itching to come out of her mouth. Words that would even put her Aunt Jo to shame and have her mother wash her mouth out with lye soap.

"I wish I could give you a mirror so that you could see your face" He said as he brought her even closer and dipped her. When he brought her back up from the dip, he pulled her in closer to his chest.

This was way closer than she had ever danced with anyone before. She could feel her breasts pressed against his chest and then he moved one of his legs between hers, and she wanted to protest with her mouth, but it was if she had turned into liquid heat and all she could do was melt into him. Surely this wasn't right feeling this way about a man she had good cause to hate. "Chief Evans, you...you are holding me much too closely." She was finally able to say.

"It's Sam, and you think so, because I don't think I am holding you close enough." He said as his arms tightened around her.

Mercy felt another peculiar sensation run through her body and she felt as if if she melted anymore that she would be a puddle on the floor. And even though she was protesting with her lips, her hips were unable to lie as she made no effort to move away for him. He felt good like a man should feel all hard and muscular were she was soft. If she didn't have on heels, the dance would be awkward, but her eyes couldn't see his face unless she looked up, so she could pretend it wasn't him dancing with her, but somebody she actually liked. She got so lost in her imaginings that she began to want to feel how his big hands would feel on her bare skin. The pictures that started to form in her mind forced her to look up at him.

When she looked up and brown eyes met green eyes, she couldn't explain the shock that went through her system. He was watching her with an expression that she had never seen on his face. She was used to him being stern, smiling, or just laidback. She couldn't fathom what he was thinking, so she asked him what was wrong.

"Nothing is wrong." He said while shaking his head.

"Are you sure? You look like …"

"Mercy, let's not talk, when we talk things have a way of going to places that neither one of us intends. Can we just enjoy this dance?"

Mercy stopped questioning him and melted back into his body, and he held her closer, so close that she could not only feel his belt buckle against her tummy, but she could also feel his penis. Mercy jumped back from him right as the DJ took over and began playing a song about wanna a Rolly Rolly Rolly. Sam obviously wasn't comfortable dancing to this type of music, so he led her from the dance floor and took her to a place in the back of the club where there were empty seats.

"Do you want me to get you something to drink?" Sam asked seeing there was not a waitress near them.

"Yes, I will have an Arnold Palmer, thanks." She said to him and watched his face light up with a grin at her order.

While he left her to go to the bar to get her a drink, Mercy was still in a state of shock. She had felt a man's penis while dancing and maybe she was old-fashioned but that had never happened to her before. And Sam knew she had to have felt him and he didn't seemed phased. Maybe, people danced differently now than when she was growing up. Looking at the twerking and rolly rolly going on at the dance floor, she could believe that anything was acceptable now. All she knew was that she had Sam Evans' penis on her brain, and she would never again be able to think of him as just her irritating city's chief of police.

Mercy was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't know how long Sam was gone, and nobody came up to her to ask her to dance, while he was gone, but as soon as he got near her with her drink, a man with long dreadlocks that reeked of marijuana came up and asked her if she wanted to dance with him.

Before she could refuse him, Sam sat her drink down and simply told the guy that she was with him, and the guy went to the next girl at a nearby table and asked her to dance. Sam sat down next to her and opened his beer and began to drink from it, and Mercy still felt all squishy inside.

She couldn't keep her eyes off him though and noticed that he was barely drinking his beer, he was too busy looking over the crowd and studying random people.

"Are you working a case here?" She asked him when she saw that he staring too intently and methodically for it to be casual observations.

"What makes you ask that? I work for the city of Lima not Findlay."

"I think I know better than anyone else here where you work, but you are watching this crowd with hyperfocus."

"I can't help it; I guess it is just a habit that I have from the job."

"Are you ever off duty? Are you able to relax and enjoy yourself?" She asked not thinking that the stress that police officers had when they were off of their jobs. Could they ever not be vigilant knowing all the bad things that happened daily in the world?

"I relax when I am at home underneath my own roof."

"Where exactly in Lima do you live?"

Sam was shocked with her asking him this question. "I live a few streets over from your mother's house on South Elizabeth Street."

Mercy couldn't believe it. Elizabeth Street had been just four streets away from her childhood home. It had a lot of Victorian homes, some were in good repair and some were not. She didn't picture him living in a Victorian home by himself and told him this.

"I bought the house from a good friend of mine name Artie Abrams. He inherited it from his uncle or somebody. He now lives in New York and has no intention of moving back to Lima."

Mercy sat upright in shock. "You are friends with Artie Abrams who went to McKinley High. You have got to be kidding me."

"No, Artie and I go way back. We met as undergraduates at Vanderbilt. We had the same major, but I was having some trouble with a couple of classes. With his tutoring, I was able to graduate with honors."

"Artie Abrams went to school with me and we sung in the same school show choir. I was a sophomore when he was a senior. How is he doing? The last time his mother was at the library, she told me he was working for some firm in New York." Mercy couldn't believe that Artie and Sam were friends. After Artie came back from Tennessee in a wheelchair, she had often sent books that he would check out by his mother to him. Artie was good people, and if he were friends with Sam, maybe Sam wasn't the complete jerk she had thought he was.

"He still works at the same firm, and he is doing great. It was he who told me about the position of chief of police and offered me his home to live in rent free if I got the job and wanted to move here."

Before they could say another word, a woman's voice called out in a shrill voice, "Stop, Clint, don't." And the crowd spread out to get away from two men fighting. The men kept trading punches until one of them fell against an innocent bystander, and her date got angry and jumped into the fray and the fighting had quickly become more widespread.

"You have got to be kidding me." Sam said as he led Mercy to the back door. He wasn't the only person with this idea as several people tried to run them over but Sam had a firm grip on Mercy and held her close as he used his upper body strength to muscle through the crowd. They could hear glass breaking behind them as well as shouting and nobody looked back. As soon as they were out the door, Sam accused Mercy of being a catalyst to all the brawls that had occurred lately at the Yucatan Club.

"How can you blame me? I was nowhere near those people."

"I believe it's something about your presence that makes the earth tilts off its axis. I am here most nights, and there are hardly ever any fights. But on the nights you are here, chaos happens."

"I don't think it's me at all. I think more people probably come on a Saturday night, and more people are apt to get drunk because they don't have to go to work the next day. I bet if you look at statistics that most clubs have the most fights on Saturday due to increase of liquor sales and increase in the amount of people at the establishment."

"Whatever Miss Mercy, where are you parked?"

Instead of telling him, Mercy led him around the building to the front parking lot to her her SUV. When she got her keys out of her purse, he removed them from her hand and popped her lock, and opened the door for her before returning her key back. He watched as she put on her safety belt and cranked her car before telling her that he would follow her home.

"I don't need you to follow me home. I didn't have anything to drink, and I should be fine." She told him ready to argue.

"I just think that I need to make sure you get home safe. I heard you have moved, and I don't think that your street is safe."

"You really don't have to do this. I left my porch light, and I should be just fine." She should have saved her breath because she could tell by his obstinate stance that she wasn't going to talk him out of doing this.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Brody Weston was beyond angry; he was livid. What was the matter with these people? All he could see were people fleeing the club as if it was the zombie apocalypse. He was in his car and patiently waiting to spot the lady in the red dress, so he could follow her home and give her the GHB, he had intended to dose Puckerman with. Why did every time he was on his way or at the club, a fight had to break out that soon escalated into a full brawl.

He didn't want to get out of his car, but he got out anyway to search in the sea of people for the black woman wearing the red dress. The crowd blocked his view of the parking lot where she had parked, so he walked his way towards that section hoping to get a glance at her in the dark. People were leaving the parking lot before the cops arrived, and the area was lit up with their headlights.

When he finally caught sight of her walking out with a man who looked like he wasn't flustered at all, Brody knew he had to stay close enough to them to hear what they were saying. When he heard the man tell her that he would follow her home, Brody knew that getting to her tonight would be a lost cause. Instead he contented himself with the knowledge that he was able to match her vehicle with one of the tag numbers that he had written down earlier. He noticed that the tag was registered in Allen County.

He almost jumped with joy because he knew he would be able to give the tag number to Hunter Clarington, and he would have someone in the police department run it. Then, Brody would have her name and address within minutes. But Brody thought better of this plan. If he did this tonight, surely the police would find it suspicious that the woman's whose tag the mayor had run was conveniently murdered hours later.

He would wait until Monday to have Clarington get the tag number, and then he could wait for the perfect opportunity to take care of her without making a mistake. It should be easy to find her again since she was into the club scene, and the GHB that he was going to use on her tonight could be used on her next week without a problem. He didn't plan on raping her first; he was not Puckerman and into having sex with corpses. But, hopefully the cops would think she was a user who just had too much.

* * *

Mercy couldn't believe that Sam Evans, an officer of the law, was tailgating her. He was driving so close to her vehicle, you would think she was in a low speed car chase. Mercy never drove over the speeding limit and because the roads from Findlay to Lima were littered with deer, she always used extreme caution when driving at night. When he kept it up, she finally had had enough and waited until she could get to a safe place to pull over. When she found a spot, she put on her blinker, pulled over, and stopped her car. Before she could put on her emergency flashers, Sam had gotten out of his truck and was opening her car door.

"What the hell is the matter?" He asked looking at her worriedly.

"What's the matter? I will tell you what's the matter." She said and stopped when she noticed the night-sights on the barrel of the gun that he held down against his leg. "My goodness the night-lights are awfully bright aren't they?" She asked totally distracted by the gun.

"Stop being your normal ADD self and explain to me what the hell you are talking about."

"I am talking about your gun; what kind is it a Beretta, Glock, H&K, or a Sig?" She asked because it was dark she couldn't tell.

"It's a Sig, and how in the world do you know so much about handguns?"

"Before you came here, I helped Chief Figgins research handguns when he was thinking about upgrading the firearms for the police department. Although we spent a lot of time researching models, the city council refused to allow us to have the funds to purchase them."

"I know they weren't purchased until I got here." Sam had to raise hell, but he had finally convinced the council that they were being outgunned, and he had gotten the weapons that he wanted.

"They couldn't afford to get the new guns when Figgins was chief because we had to overhaul the city's sewer system."

"How in the world did we get to talking about guns, Figgins, and sewers?" Sam asked when a car almost blew him off the road. "Why did you stop? Are you having car problems?"

"My only problem was that you were tailgating me."

Sam almost groaned in exasperation another car went by before he got the strength to make sure she wasn't shitting him. "What in the hell are you talking about?"

"You were following behind me way too closely. It wasn't safe. What if I had to brake for a deer? You would have hit me."

"I need you to unbuckle your seatbelt and get out of the car."

"I won't and you can't make me do this."

He ignored her and leaned in and unbuckled her belt and hauled her out of the car using some kind of police maneuver on her. She was about to slap his face when he backed her against the Explorer and leaned in pushing his body against her. She hated feeling the melty sensation that being near to him made her feel. It was if her body was betraying her. She was so angry at him, yet so turned on by him at the same time. And she didn't know which feeling was going to gain control of her brain.

"I am going to give you two choices. I can either spank you for doing something as infantile as pulling over because I was tailgating you scaring the bejesus out of me, or I can kiss you. The choice is yours."

"I choose neither one. Your hands are not going to do anymore to me than they have already done, and you are most definitely not going to kiss me."

"If you didn't want my hands on you or my lips on you, then you shouldn't have just let out that sexy sigh when I leaned down into you after getting you out of your car, and you sure as hell shouldn't have worn that red dress."

"That's the most sexist thing…." She said before Sam engulfed her mouth with his own. Mercy didn't know if she wanted to push him away or pull him closer. But the feel of his soft lips kissing hers was something that was so tender and sweet and causing her to melt more than her anger for him warranted. She hadn't been kissed since college and the feeling made her realized what all she had been missing. She could vaguely taste the beer he had last drunk in the club and there was something else. Something so addicting that she could spend the rest of her life being kissed so leisurely and so tenderly.

Unfortunately for her, nothing in her life had ever felt this good. She didn't care that he was a bully, idiot, and chauvinist, all she cared about was that he was making her feel the things that she woke up on her 34th birthday wanting to feel. How good it actually felt to be in someone's arm as they treasured your mouth. She couldn't stop herself from lifting her arms and drawing him even further down as he stopped kissing her lips and began sucking on her neck whenever they needed air. Who knows what would have happened next if a car hadn't gone by and the driver was blaring his or her horn at them.

Sam didn't seem to care as he kissed her again and cradled his pelvis against her thighs allowing her to feel the effect the kiss was having on him as well. She knew that she should stop him, Lord knows she had been judgmental in the past, but if she let Sam kept up doing what he was doing, she might as well let him slip her panties down and have sex with him in public. What was happening to her mind. She needed to stop these thoughts, these feelings. She was losing her mind. The man just took her out of her car without her permission, and she was acting like a throwback heroine to some Harlequin romance novel that sounded good in theory but was actually demeaning in reality. And when the kisses became hotter and rougher with him nibbling on her lips to cause her to reopen her mouth, she fell for it and then started using her hands to touch the tiny bit of exposed skin on his neck.

When she started to touch him, Sam knew he was going to have to stop while he still could. Her kisses were drugging honey making him want more and more. He couldn't stop himself from looking into her eyes and telling her that he wanted to get naked with her in the worse way.

Getting naked with Sam Evans. Several minutes ago she would have said that a snowball's chance in hell was greater odds than she ever allowing that man to kiss her, nevertheless have sex with him, but now she was tempted, but not that tempted. Shaking her head, she told him, "No, this is a bad idea, Sam."

"How can something so bad feel so right?"

"You and I are just impossible, improbable, and intolerable…"

"I think we are possible, probable, and a hell of a lot more than tolerable. I am burning up hot for you. You can't tell me that the feeling is not mutual."

"We are not compatible. You are the opposite of my type at all."

"So, you say. Well, if I am not your type, then God knows how I would feel right now after kissing you if I was. I don't think I would survive if I was more of your type Miss Mercy." He leaned back down for another kiss, and foolishly, she got on her tiptoes and met him halfway. She couldn't seem to think when he was near her. Her brain cells must have melted because the longer he kissed her the more she was willing to allow him to cup her butt drawing her even closer to him and she was a little shocked when her rubbed her behind. She got more than melty she got so hot that she couldn't stifle a moan of pleasure. The sound of her voice had him breaking the kiss and kissing on her neck as his mouth went down her dress and he licked the tops of her breasts. She couldn't stop herself from putting her fingers in his hair drawing his body further down on hers that she could feel his heart beating out of control. When she tugged on the hair on top of his head, he let out a groan and slowly released her looking at her with such an heated expression that she instantly felt moisture pool her panties.

"I hate you Sam Evans; you are trying to ruin all of my plans."

"What plans am I ruining?" He asked as he began kissing her softly on her forehead to smooth out the lines wrinkling her forehead.

His actions had totally disorientated her, and she couldn't stop herself from telling him that she was hunting for a man.

"I don't see the problem. I am all man, and I promise you, if you give me the chance you won't have to look any further."

Those words he said whispered against her head were making her weak. He was her Kryptonite making her powerless and weak. She wasn't going to fall for him. She didn't want a man to hit it and quit it. She didn't have time to waste on one night stands. "I need a man who is willing to be in a relationship with me."

"I am very single and available and willing." He said gently lifting her face and looking into her eyes.

"No, Sam, you don't understand. I want to get married and have babies."

"Shit, excuse me, I didn't mean to curse." Sam said apologetically thinking how he had misread the situation. She was looking for a husband in a club, surely her mother, sister, and aunt had taught her better than that. And the condoms…

"You see why we wouldn't work. I am hunting for a husband and your are consistently getting in the way. Because of you everybody in Lima thinks we are screwing, and nobody there will ask me out. Now, I have to go to these nightclubs to try and find a man, but tonight you have done the same thing by making people think that we are together and keeping other men from me."

"Mercy Jones said screwing. I think I am going to die from the shock. But really I am only trying to keep you out of trouble."

"You did that last week, but tonight I wasn't in any trouble at all. That last guy was pretty hot that you ran off, and who knows, he could have been the one."

"Yeah right," Sam said sarcastically. "The dude reeked of weed and smelt as if he hadn't washed his hair in days. He looked like he had a tarantula on his head. Do you truly believe he was the one for you?"

"I am not an idiot. I was just using him as an example. At the rate you are going, you are going to have made us Facebook official and everybody in northern Ohio will know that we're an item, and I will have to drive South to Columbus to visit my sister and have Anthony fix me up with someone he knows from work."

"Not happening. I just met your sister once and she's a work of art. I know she wouldn't let that happen without interfering. She probably would insist on a double date and spend the whole time belittling you, so she could be Queen Bee. You just need to stay in your lane, so you won't cause friction between you two."

"Who the hell do you think you are criticizing my sister. You son of a bitch; don't you dare tell me what to do…" Silence followed as Mercy cringed at the words she had just spoken.

"Sam I am sorry. I shouldn't have insulted your mother like that." Mercy said barely in a whisper. "I don't normally explode on people that way. You just struck a raw nerve. I have never spoken to a person like that before and used that type of language."

"You really do use that type of language and you have spoken to me repeatedly in that way. Maybe you just took your anger out on me because you knew there was some truth in my words."

"I am very sorry. There is no excuse for me sinking to your level."

"Even if I baited you on purpose to make you mad as hell at me."

"You have been doing that since you visited the library, and I know you have been doing it on purpose, but I get so passionate and carried away that I forget my home training. My dad and my mother instilled in me that I must always act like a lady, so that I am treated like one."

"Getting upset and cursing someone out is not the worse things you can do. It's when you continue to hold hatred in your heart instead of letting things go is when it becomes a problem. I speak from a place of experience. I couldn't let go of all the bad things that happened to me, and I hated everyone that caused them. This hatred ended up sending me in a downward tailspin. I have learned that it is better to yell and scream and not bottle things up like you do, and then try to forget even when you are unable to forgive."

"I am truly sorry, Sam, I didn't know that you had experienced so much pain in your life." Mercy wondered what all had happened besides the divorce that she already knew about. She wasn't going to be insensitive and ask, but she was curious about Sam Evans and knew there was more to the man than met the eye.

Sam looked down in her compassionate doe eyes and had to steel himself from bending down and kissing her. She really was good, crazy just like him, but good to the core. "Let me get you back inside your car and safely home before I am crazy enough to try to kiss you again."

"If that was a threat, it isn't working. But I will warn you never tailgate me again." She said saucily as she reached for the door and felt her her hand brushed aside as Sam opened the door and waited for her to jump up on the seat and buckle her seatbelt.

When he leaned over with kiss swollen lips that made him look even sexier and said, "I won't at least not while you are driving a car." She wasn't slow and knew exactly what he meant as her heart skipped a beat before she licked her own lip wondering how it would feel to lick his own puffy mouth.

Sam could see the passion return to her eyes, and encouraged her to go as he slammed her car door and returned to his vehicle driving slower than he had ever driven in his life to stay a safe distance behind her.

 **A/N: Finally we get some action from Samcedes. Mercy still is holding out like she should. Thanks as always for reading and supporting this work of fiction that I don't own.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I tried to answer one of the questions in who's review and then I went completely off script because my characters were in conflict with the book's character. So, the book is now only a bare bones outline and most stuff is coming from my demented mind until we get to Brody, Hunter, and Brittney. Thanks for all your support. And remember that I own nothing but my original ideas and mistakes that are in this chapter.**

 **Triggers of PTSD, miscarriage and stillbirth delivery, domestic terrorism, violent loss of loved ones, and issues concerning fertility endometriosis, fibroids, etc.**

Chapter Fourteen

Sunday morning when she woke up, Mercy had to count the costs and see if she was willing to put herself through the spectacle of church. Last Sunday she was stared down and that was before the condom incident. She pushed those thoughts aside and forced herself to get up and get ready to give thanks to God and afterwards go eat at her mother's for supper. She knew she was going to have confront those people at some time, so it was better to just get it over with.

Because she knew every eye was going to be on her, she dressed with extra care and made sure her hair and makeup were impeccable. She would have never thought at her first foray in applying cosmetics that she could get as proficient as she was now with it. According to the weather report, the heat index would be over one hundred degrees, so she had decided to dress as coolly in possible in a nice A-line sundress that flared out at her knees.

When she got to her church, she entered and sat on the row beside her mother and aunt who were sitting in the center of the aisle near the back since they were not singing in the choir this Sunday. "You look really nice, Merce," her mother said as she leaned over and gave her daughter a hug.

"Yes, you look fabulous. How did last night go?" Aunt Jo added and inquired.

"I only got to dance with two different people, but I think that is definitely not the club for me. There was another fight. I am going to have to find somewhere else to go."

"That's a very a good idea. It definitely is not the place for you to go if you are looking for a husband. You could get hurt." Her mother said.

While her mother was speaking, someone came and sat on the pew beside Mercy making her scoot over because the person was taking up a great deal of space. She was shocked that somebody was willing to sit beside her, and when she turned her head to see who was sitting there, she wanted to disappear. It was Sam Evans smiling at her. "Why are you here?" she asked him not wasting time to exchange a proper greeting.

"I am here to attend church." He told her as he looked over to her Aunt Jo and mother and said hello to them with the smile still on his face. The two older ladies exchanged greetings with him and smiled.

Mercy was shocked and dismayed when her mother asked him over for dinner after the service. "How could I turn down such a gracious invitation? If dinner is anything like dessert was last week, I would be an idiot to miss out on a meal cooked by you." Sam told Mrs. Jones laying on all the Southern charm he possessed.

"This is the last time I am going to ask you, why are you here?" She whispered to him. Upset at his presence and realizing that she would have to deal with him later this afternoon when she just didn't know what to do about her feelings for him.

"I am here to help your reputation darling. I don't want them to think that we just do nooners." He leaned over and whispered in ear and enjoyed watching her eyes widen.

I am going to kill Sam Evans, she thought and soon repented remembering she was in church. She didn't care that he was right. That most people would assume that they were in a relationship because he had actually come to church and sat beside her. They would think it was serious especially if they heard his car was parked again outside her mother's house two Sundays in a row.

A couple of hours later, Mercy was a complete wreck. She had tried to pay attention to the sermon after the men's choir sang, but her attention was on the man sitting beside her. He was behaving because he was in church, but she couldn't help but replay what happened last night on the road when she was getting a constant reminder every time she got a whiff of his cologne.

She hadn't paid any attention to who might be looking at her because she was busy sneaking glances at him throughout the sermon. At first she looked at his outfit, even though it was hot outside, he took the time to wear a suit instead of the khakis and polo shirts that most men wore on Sundays. It was a lightweight suit that accentuated his body that was close to perfection. Unlike her, she knew his body was rock hard and cellulite free. His shoes were nice. She had read someone that if man took care of his shoes, then it was reflected in his attitude towards himself and other.

When the sermon was finally over, people stood around talking, hugging and/or shaking hands. Sam stood up at the end of the pew which kept her from hastily exiting the church. Because he had never attended the church before, several people came by to welcome him and ask if he liked the service and invited him to return next week. Some of the men wanted to talk about his work on the police force, some women actually flirted with him, but he would only flirt back with the grandmothers and great grandmothers. After the crowd dispersed, Sam put his arm on Mercy's waist signalling they were a couple, and walked towards the exit.

Mercy wanted to ask him to remove his hand, but she thought better of this. She just had to remind herself that this man didn't want marriage and children. He said he had been married before, and he could have children already for as much as she would know. To ease her curiosity over the issue she asked him did he have children, and the expression on his face immediately looked sad before he told her no. They were almost at the door of the church when the pastor stopped them as he was still at the door shaking hands and chatting with people as they were leaving.

Mercy was surprised that Pastor Pendergrass wanted to talk to talk to Sam about his being police chief. Mercy didn't know how long the conversation lasted because she started to think about how aggravating it must get to Sam to have people stop him and ask the same questions over and over again. By the time, her pastor had finished talking to Sam, he was ready to look at her with a steady glance. Since she had not paid any attention to the sermon, she wondered had it been targeted especially for her. She would ask her mom or Aunt Jo later just to see.

As soon as they were out the door, Sam released her waist and began to take off his jacket. It was already hot as molasses and it wasn't even noon. Sam walked her to her car and told her that he would follow her to her mother's house.

"Mrs. Jones that had to be the best pot roast that I have ever eaten in my life. Thanks for the meal. I didn't think I can ever remember eating a meal as delicious as this in quite a while." Sam said as he allowed Mercy's mom to give him a second helping.

"Why thank you, Sam. Since I have been retired I have enjoyed planting my own garden, and I cook for a hobby because it brings me joy."

"Well, I am sure you were an excellent teacher, but I do believe that you would have excelled as a chef as well. The gravy of this roast is perfection and the meat is so tender. Have you ever thought about combining your talents? I would pay for lessons if you could teach me to cook like this. I probably would gain thirty pounds, but I would enjoy gaining every ounce."

"Are you listening Marcia, first Cooper was telling you to open a restaurant, and now Sam Evans is telling you to open up a cooking school? I think God is trying to tell you something." Aunt Jo said looking at her sister with an 'I told you so' glance.

"This is coming from single men, Joanna. Most men have a woman either wife or mother who cooks for them, so I know how to take the compliment and not let it go to my head."

"I was married several years ago, and I tell you this my wife could not cook anything that comes close to your pot roast ma'am. And Lord knows I love my momma, but she couldn't come close to your culinary skills either and she was a good cook. You really are an exceptional cook."

"I will graciously accept your kind words Sam Evans, and I will not argue with you which would be rude." Marcia Jones said to the police chief before turning to her sister. "You are right, he is a charmer, Joanna."

"I told you that he knows how to sweet talk the ladies. I am just wondering Sam, if you have tried to sweet talk Mercy here? She can cook not as good as her mother only a few can, but she is no slouch in the kitchen, as well. I am the only one who can barely boil an egg."

"Aunt Jo!" "Joanna!" Both mother and daughter yelled simultaneously.

"What, it is not like he is not bold. We all had to listen to that message of the temptations of the flesh, to flee from fornication, it's better to marry than to burn, etc. all because of his part in the great condom disaster."

Mercy didn't have to ask her aunt or her mother now. She knew without doubt that the pastor had geared his sermon to her, and she could safely guess he was looking for her to feel what, guilt or shame? She must have confounded him by her lack of response, and he had probably caught her staring at Sam during the majority of the sermon.

"Joanna, you are going to have the police chief thinking we have no decorum. Last week and just now are not examples of how we usually are at meal times, I assure you Sam."

"I am not going to apologize. If I want to know something, I ask. If he doesn't want to answer, then I don't get offended. Have I offended you, Sam?"

"No ma'am, you are just being refreshingly honest. I can see why Mercy is the way she is. When she is calm, she is all you Mrs. Jones, but when she gets hot under the collar, that is when she is all you Mrs. Nelson. Please, don't stand on ceremony with me. I enjoy all the time that I spend with any of you three."

After saying that Sam cemented himself in her mother's and aunt's good graces, and the conversation around the table continued until the meal was over and Sam volunteered to help Mercy clear the table because Mrs. Jones refused their help in the kitchen. Sam had talked about his home to her mother during the latter part of dinner, and when he turned around to ask Mercy, if she wanted to come and see it, she initially said no.

"Mercy Ann Jones, that was just plain rude of you. Don't act like you weren't just as interested in Sam describing his home as we were. What else have you got to do today? You need to go and see it and remember to come back and describe it to me."

"You are more than welcome to join us Mrs. Jones and you too Mrs. Nelson."

"Thanks for the invitation Sam, but with this heat and after a full meal, I am only good for a Sunday nap during the heat of the day, and Jo takes over the TV in the living room at this time every Sunday. But we would like a rain check."

"Well, anytime that you both want to come by, you just give me a call, and I can make it happen. Thanks again ladies for having me over. You truly make a stranger feel right at home, and I appreciate it."

"You are welcome. Mercy come give me a hug." Her mom said before ushering the two out the house as they also exchanged goodbyes with her and Aunt Jo.

"Sometimes I wonder about that daughter of yours Marcia. She can't see the forest for all the trees. She needs to realize that she has a good man, and although he is pale as all get out, he has seen her inner beauty before she had all of those changes made. If she hooked him plain, then I don't see him ever being willing to get out of their relationship."

"Jo, Mercy is going to have to realize this on her own. You know how she balks at change and doesn't like having her plans derailed. If she and Sam are meant to be, then he better up the ante and give her an offer that she can't refuse."

"I will keep my mouth shut, and just sit back and enjoy watching them both act like a couple of bumbling idiots."

"Whatever Jo," Marcia said knowing it was best not to try to out argue her sister. She went to her room and got a book and began to read it until she fell asleep.

"Whatever my skinny ass, he is inviting her over to his house to do more than look around. I know this without doubt. That boy is sprung and if Mercy is not careful, she is going to be another notch on his bedpost, which is not a bad thing, because if anybody needed to get laid it was definitely Mercy. And if she is anything like me in the sack, that white boy would be begging and praying for mercy, pun intended." Aunt Jo said to herself as she walked into the den and turned on her exercise DVD, she would be forty pounds heavier if she didn't walk the pounds away everyday because she enjoyed eating her sister's cooking.

Mercy tried not to fume as Sam opened the door to her Explorer, and she got in her SUV and backed out after him following behind him without tailgating. It didn't take five minutes to get to his house, and they could have walked if the heat hadn't been so stifling. Sam immediately came around to her car door and opened it for her and eagerly closed the door after she had gotten out of her vehicle.

She had to admit that the house was lovely and looked as if he had put a lot of time and energy in the repairs. She looked at the impeccable yard, the excellent paint, and the roof looked almost new. As she walked beside him climbing the steps, she looked at everything and tried to see how the house fitted the man. She would have expected him to live in a modern condo, and instead he lived in a home that could be used in television advertisements.

"The first thing I did when I purchased the house was to give it a new roof. I didn't want any of the work that was to be done inside to be damaged by leaks from the original roof. After I did the roof, I redid all the ceilings." Sam said as he unlocked and open the door and waited for her to precede him into the house.

'You truly did an excellent job, Sam." Mercy said giving praise where praise was due. She look around at everything he was describing noting the furniture that didn't seem to match Sam's taste. "I love the hardwood floors, they are gorgeous." Mercy said as they left the foyer, and went inside the living room, and lastly the den which seemed to be an older drawing room and morning room combined.

"Yes, I had to have all the furniture that came with the house removed, and I did the flooring as soon as I finished with the ceilings. As you can see I kept the original furniture, but I added the entertainment center and TV set that I bought as soon as I was able to get cable, phone, and Internet. I was glad that earlier renovations had left the original fireplace but installed central heating and air."

Mercy was surprised at how clean the house was. But she figured he was rarely there because he was at work all day and seemingly at clubs all night, so there was no reason for there to even be a mess. "Yes, I doubt if Artie's uncle had a 75 inch television and soundbar that you have in the den."

Next, He led her to the kitchen, and Mercy was surprised to see that he had chosen to have new appliances installed. He had obviously not been teasing her mom about cooking lessons, because only a person who loved to cook would have a setup like he had. She could fit her entire kitchen in his and still have room to spare. Obviously the kitchen had been expanded from it's original design, and Mercy fell in love with it.

Like her mother's home, there was a formal dining room complete with the original chandelier. Her parents home was built in the seventies, so it was way more modern that Sam's Victorian, and she enjoyed the tour he gave as he seem to light up like a little boy on Christmas morning every time she praised his craftsmanship and the beauty of his home.

When he had finished giving Mercy the the three floor tour, she seemed to be in a good mood, so he decided to sit down and have a serious conversation with her. Last night had been hard for him leaving her house after staying outside an additional hour to make sure she was alright hadn't alleviated his anxiety of her living in that neighborhood alone. Plus, she told him that she wasn't interested in him unless marriage and children were a part of a deal. He knew he had to explain his reaction to this, so they could see if there was any future for them.

Mercy was ready to head to the door, but was shocked when Sam asked her to come into the kitchen and have an Arnold Palmer. The iced tea and lemonade drink was one of her favorites because the the tea gave the drink the caffeine it needed so it wasn't such a sugary citrus drink but a perfect combination of the two. She was surprised that Sam had a half empty jug of the drink which he poured into two glasses.

"I was surprised when you ordered this last night. It is one of my favorite drinks as you can probably tell. I thought you would have gotten water last night because you didn't trust me to get you a drink without dosing it. I realized then that I could have a chance with you. But I don't ever want you to order a drink from any man again without being at the bar with him, because even if you know the man, he could still slip something in your drink."

"Since I didn't drink it but instead looked at you looking at the crowds, I think I was still pretty safe."

"Well, you can never be too safe. I guess I need to explain to you why I reacted the way I did when you said you wanted to marry and have babies. I haven't told you about my past because there was no reason to, but it would be remiss of me, if I didn't let you know about me so you can understand where I am coming from." Sam went on to explain about his limited dating experiences and superficiality of the women he knew, and how he felt when he met his ex-wife who was light, bubbly, and caring and was exactly what he needed after working on the SWAT team and seeing all the deaths he had witnessed of innocent people before he was ordered to give kill shots over and over again. Most of his job involved death, so when he was home he enjoyed having a wife that was full of life. When they turned thirty, they decided to try for a family. After a year of trying, a miracle happened and his ex-wife became pregnant. They were excited and had even begun to buy furniture and clothes for the baby. Decorating the nursery took a lot a time because as an artist, Harmony wanted to infuse her art in the baby's room, but she had a late in pregnancy miscarriage that forced her to deliver the baby stillborn.

After telling Mercy about the miscarriage, he told her how his wife's infertility afterwards due to endometriosis and scarring led to a strain on their marriage. "She started getting fibroids and having heavy cycles and the doctors were suggesting a hysterectomy, but she refused to get one. It was like she was possessed with getting pregnant, and the woman that I married was gone. I could understand her desire to be a mother, and I was willing to adopt, but as child of adoption, she talked about how she was picked on and never fully felt like she belonged and she didn't want a child to grow up like she did."

Sam took a break and looked into Mercy's eyes while drinking his drink before continuing. "My wife's obsession with getting pregnant happened at the same time that my SWAT and bomb squad were dealing with terrorist activity that were happening all over the state and not foreign terrorists but homegrown terrorist who were using bombs. Bombs are unpredictable, and being a sniper was stressful enough, but working bombs and seeing so many children and members of our squad lose their lives had a toll on me, and after a good friend died in my arms from a bomb that exploded and caused shrapnel to go everywhere including in both my left and right hands, I developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder."

Sam took some deep breaths before taking another drink and he couldn't help but unburden himself as he looked at the compassion that was evident in Mercy's eyes. "To make a long story short, my depression and disturbed sleep caused me to no longer fight for a marriage that was centered on baby making and not love, and I allowed it to deteriorate because my wife couldn't cope with the blackness that seared my soul. It was only until I moved here and begun working on this house did I come back from out of the dark. With time I was taken off the antidepressants, but I still go to group therapy, even though I no longer have the symptoms to be a support to others."

Mercy couldn't stop her heart from reaching out to Sam, his ex-wife, and anybody else whose life was impacted based on series of devastating events that gave him blow after blow and didn't allow him to heal from all the loss. She got out of her chair and couldn't stop herself from going to him and giving him a real hug.

"So, when you said babies, I freaked out. I didn't want to be involved with another woman who was obsessed with getting pregnant. It is still a tender subject for me, but I know what you must have thought, and at the time, you were right. I wasn't thinking about the future future. I was only thinking about the here and now. I want you. And I just don't want your body, I like being around you, and I admit to hoping that you never go to a club again. Because I have found that I am quite protective and possessive over you, and you are not even mine. I just want you to be with you. How wrong is that?"

"It's not wrong at all, Sam. I feel like this is the first conversation that we have ever had without you baiting me, flirting with me, and/or trying to get in my pants. And I like it, and I like you Sam, but I do want children, and who knows if I will have the problems that your ex had. All I know is that you make feel things that I have never felt before making me think I am going to get struck by lightning in church because I am attracted to you even though you have acted like an ass."

"Oh, my sweet Mercy you like to build me up and then break me down." Sam said trying to joke and get the serious expression from her eyes.

"I just d..don't know Sam…"

"I understand your hesitancy; I gave you a lot to think about. But before marriage, surely you were going to be willing to be courted by a guy. Will you let me date you? And if you find someone better suited for your plans, I will try to bow out gracefully." Sam said hoping she heard him say try because he did mean try but he wouldn't try hard more like hardly at all.

"Okay, Sam, I agree to go out with you on dates here in Lima because everybody assumes we are couple, and after the rumor mill hears about you attending church with me, they are going to assume we are in a relationship anyway. I am no longer going to the Yucatan Club. I am going to try Internet dating next."

"Lord have mercy, you are going to be the death of me. Now, I got to teach you about online predators and being catfished." Sam said as he got her to agree to go out with him the following night because he wasn't going to waste anytime in his pursuit of making Mercy Jones his.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

After leaving Sam's house, Mercy went home with her mind almost completely blown. Sam Evans was one complex man who had been dealt a handful of tragedies, and she had really only experienced one - her father's death. Her Aunt Jo, who was divorced from her second husband by this time, had moved to live with her mother during this time because Jane was in Columbus and was married to Anthony with a newborn, and Mercy was in college getting her masters. She had been alright while she was on campus because Mercy could deny that fact that her daddy was dead. However, when Mercy came home for visits after the funeral, she went into a dark space that her Aunt Jo understood. Her aunt was always there with her special brand of humor, and they would watch _The Golden Girls_ together and pig out on homemade ice cream while her mother sometimes retreated into herself or into cooking.

The good thing is Aunt Jo never left and after two husbands at the age of 52 had decided that marriage was not for her and agreed to keep Marcia company while her mother bitterly grieved Malcolm Wyatt Jones' death for a year. Mercy could barely remember the pain associated with the loss of her dad. But she did miss him and would forever feel an extra sense of sadness on his birthday and Father's Day. It was ache that never left, and Sam must have degrees of that ache for the various loved ones he had lost and the lives he had been unable to save.

The most confusing thing was that the Sam she was around today could totally make her fall for him if she was not careful. He was vulnerable and real and that vulnerability and realness made him so attractive to her because it was the opposite of the conceited jerk persona he used to get a rise out of her. She had several glimpses of the man Sam Evans truly was, and one he was an overt flirt. It was something he did automatically, but she had only noticed him doing it with her and older women. Two, he was very protective of her and wanted to make sure that she didn't come to any physical hurt. And three he was just too hot for handling. The old adage playing with fire leads to burns was enough to warn her that playing at a relationship with Sam Evans was going to result into something she might not be able to control.

* * *

"Ryan, get back here now." The dog's owner yelled and had to run to the field to try and retrieve the dog because the field spaniel wasn't following any of his commands.

The owner of the dog had been training him to retrieve using several lures in his backyard. And at first, the dog seemed quite gifted in being able to return everything that he had encountered.

Now two years later, he had begun taking to the dog to various fields and the dog had been hit or miss. Sometimes Ryan would be right on target, and other times it was if the dog was coming out of left field and would get distracted.

"Heel Ryan!" The owner yelled again and had to go out to investigate because Ryan wasn't coming back. The smell in the air was not a good one, and the owner didn't want to see what had distracted the dog.

"Come here, Ryan! Where the hell are you!" The owner yelled as he went deeper into the woods in search of the dog who he could hear was digging up something, but he couldn't see where he was due to the trees blocking the sun. The owner had to go through thickets of briars, branches of trees, and bushes cursing as he tried to find the errant dog. The closer the owner got to the dog the stronger the smell got, and then he finally heard Ryan bark, and the sound was close to him. As he looked through the bushes, he could tell that Ryan had dug up something that seemed too heavy to move, and Ryan continued to dig with dirt flying everywhere.

"Ryan stop!" The owner yelled and ran up to him trying not to vomit from the vile smell. He grabbed his dog's collar, and when he pulled, he noticed what his dog had unearthed. He couldn't believe it. He was scared and wanted to run hoping that whoever had done this was not still in the woods.

"Come on boy. We gotta go." He got a firm grip on the dog's leash and yanked him away from the body, and grabbed his cell phone and called 911 while distancing his dog from the vile sight and himself from the vile smell.

* * *

Hunter Clarington was disturbed from the text that Weston had sent him. Weston had called him and told him about the woman who may have witnessed Puckerman's death, and this made Hunter's blood go ice cold. Weston had texted him the tag number, and he didn't know if he should have it ran or not.

He wanted to believe that Brody was right. That it was too dark for her to have seen anything, and if she had seen something, why had she continued to go inside the club as cool as a cucumber? It was probably someone who was busy talking on her cell phone and decided to wait for her date inside rather than outside in her vehicle.

However, he was a professional and as heartless as Weston. They didn't need any loose ends untied. All it took was one loose thread, and someone could expose their entire business. Hunter was upset that Weston didn't handle Puckerman himself. Why he had to involve two low level criminal thugs like Cooter and Roderick was beyond his scope of reasoning. They had so many alternatives. Brody could have stayed in the car. They could have just knocked him out with a rag laced with laudanum as soon as they got deeper into the parking lot. There were so many things that they could have done to have prevented this upcoming and unnecessary death.

However, he wouldn't be able to rest at night; unless, something was done about the loose end, so he called Chief Evans. "Emma, this is Hunter. I was calling to see if the chief was available." He always referred to himself by his first name. It made his constituents feel as if they were on friendly terms with him and made them more willing to cooperate with his demands. He knew his family's money made people think he was a snob. He had gone primarily to private schools, was a member of the local county club and the country club in Westerville, and now lived in a mansion. He didn't want to isolate himself from the townspeople by referring to himself as Mayor Clarington. He was a lot younger than most of the people in town when he was elected and having the older people call him by his first name while he addressed them by their last name helped his image. Even though he was now well out of his twenties, he didn't mind pretending to be on equal terms with the rest of the good people of Lima, even though it was obvious he was part of the elite.

"I will see if he is available to take your call, please hold on." Emma said and followed suit.

"Chief, Hunter Clarington is on the line. Are you available to take his call?" Emma asked.

"Yes, send the call through," Sam said then greeted the caller.

"Evans, I just had to call you because on my way to work today, I saw a car parked in the fire lane near Dr. Howell's office. I drove by the car and got the tag number because I didn't want to go inside and interrupt somebody getting his or her teeth cleaned. I need you to run the number and give me the name, and I will call the dentist office and have that person move it and request that he or she do not park there again or that person will be given a ticket."

"Okay, just give me the numbers." Sam said thinking how weird Lima's mayor was. The man wanted his town perfect but didn't believe in giving people unnecessary tickets. He listened to the numbers and entered them into the computer. And when the name popped up, Sam couldn't believe his eyes.

The tag was registered to the one and only Mercedes Ann-Marie Jones, and the address was showing her mother's address. The eight year old Ford Explorer was definitely her vehicle. He had no idea that Mercy was her nickname. He could understand why she went by it, he went by Sam and his given name was Samuel.

He didn't know what was going on, but he asked the mayor to hold on because he knew that the SOB was lying. Mercy Jones would never park in a fire lane any more than she would moon a passing car. She didn't even tailgate or go over the speed limit. She hadn't lied about that, and he had witnessed her law abiding driving more than once. Even more was there is no way she was at Dr. Howell's office this morning because he had ended up surveilling her house last night to make sure was safe and fell asleep in his car before leaving around two to come back home and get in his bed. Before leaving work, he had driven by her house and saw that she had already left at her usual early time, and her automobile was at the parking lot of the library before 8:30. Most people would accuse him of stalking her, but he just really didn't like her neighborhood and with her being single and living alone, this made him want to make sure she was well protected. He liked her a lot, and it would hurt him, if she was hurt by some low level neighborhood thug or asshole from a club.

So why in the hell was the mayor lying and wanting Mercy's tag run? Sam wondered what should he do. Should he lie and say that it was a stolen tag and ask for a description of the car? Or should he just tell the truth and try to unearth the reason why Hunter Clarington wanted to know about Mercy's vehicle.

As Sam thought about it, there was no valid reason for the mayor's interest in Mercy. And he wondered if Clarington had even heard the gossip about the two of them. Clarington was straight country club, and even though he tried to pretend he was relatable to the good citizens of Lima, he really wasn't around all that much. His excuse was always that he had to take care of his wife, Brittney the town's drunk. She was an excuse that he had given so much that Sam stop paying attention to him. He had only met Mrs. Clarington once, and she had tried to seduce him, but he figured she was too drunk to know what she was doing, and he had played it off.

"Something must be wrong with the system. It has never taken this long to load. I am going to open up another window and see if it's the internet or the website." Sam told the mayor realizing the mayor might be wondering what was taking him so long.

"That's fine, Evans, you do that, and I will continue to wait on the line."

Sam hit a bunch of keys and then pretended that the new window allowed him to easily run the tag number. Then he told the mayor that the tag belonged to none other than Mercedes Ann-Marie Jones. "That name doesn't sound familiar to me." He said wanting to plead ignorance to the mayor.

"Excuse me, I must have misheard you." The mayor was shocked and couldn't believe what his ears had just heard.

"I said Mercedes Ann-Marie Jones." Sam then said after a pause, "Do you think that is the town's librarian? Her last name is Jones, and I think her first name is something similar to that."

"Her first name is Mercy. She is called Mercy by everyone. Oh my God. She…" Hunter could barely get the words out of his mouth; he was too stunned.

"I guess she was in a hurry and illegally parked today."

"I will call the dentist office and make sure the vehicle is moved." The mayor said quickly and thanked Evans for his help and immediately hung up his office phone after Evans request to help me with anything else.

Sam had pretended to be clueless and even asked the mayor if he could do anything else before he was rushed off the phone by Clarington. Sam needed to double check that Mercy hadn't left the library and gone to the dentist, so he called the library's phone because he still wasn't brave enough to ask her for her cell phone number, but hopefully now that she had agreed to date him, she would be more than willing to give him her digits.

"Lima Public Library, this is Mercy Jones speaking, how may I help you?"

"Hi darling, I was just wondering if you are anticipating our date tonight as much as I am."

"I can't believe you are calling me at work asking something so personal, Sam. But I admit that I am a little bit."

"Just a little bit huh, well the reason why I am calling is that I got a call saying you were illegally parked at Dr. Howell's office this morning."

"That is a lie. I don't even go to Dr. Howell's office because I heard that he uses laughing gas to feel women up. I don't believe it's true; it was just a rumor probably sparked by all the women he has rejected, but my Aunt Jo insists that we go to the dentist who has been cleaning our family's teeth for over thirty years, and his name is Dr. Riley."

Sam didn't care if it was true or not, but he did write it down in case he needed to investigate the good dentist later. "I also heard from a bird that your real name is Mercedes Ann-Marie Jones."

"My name and my personal business is coming up a lot around you today. Are you sure you not asking people about me? If you must know according to my mother, I was called Mercedes until I was four, and when my sister Jane started to speak she would call me Mercy because she couldn't say my name, and I got stuck with the nickname because my dad didn't want to name me Mercedes at all. He and Jane outvoted my mom, and soon she got in the habit of calling me and referring to me as Mercy Ann or Mercy. My name was supposed to be Anna Marie after my dad's mother, but my mother thought the name was too old-fashioned, and they compromised by making Ann-Marie my legal middle name."

"Did you go by Mercedes at school?"

"No, it was only on my high school graduation program that people other than my teachers realized that my name was Mercedes. I was known by everyone as Mercy Jones or Mercy Ann Jones. I don't understand why you are so interested in my name. You could have gotten a list of city employees and saw that my names was printed as Mercedes Jones as yours was printed as Police Chief Samuel Evans."

"I was just wondering. Maybe I just wanted to hear the sound of your voice. How you ramble on and on about things that I really can't comprehend, but the sound of your voice lulls me into a place of peace."

"Whatever, Sam."

"So, what are you doing for lunch?"

"Aunt Jo found me a dog, and I am going to check the pooch out during my lunch break with her."

Sam wanted to see her, but he knew that getting a dog was important because in that neighborhood she needed a dog and with the mayor inquiring about her and lying about the inquiry, he was uneasy about her safety.

"So, are you sure want to go with me to Breadstix? I figured that is the place to be in Lima if you are dating and don't want to be around the tourists and travelers who flood to the chain restaurants."

"Breadstix is fine, Sam. When I was in school, I used to daydream about going there on a date like the popular kids."

"Well, there past loss is now my present gain. I am glad none of those numbskulls were smart enough to see that you are really something special. We can get reservations to go somewhere even nicer on the weekend. You deserve to be wooed with utmost finesse, and I plan to have as much quality time with you as possible. I don't have your cell phone number. Do you mind calling my phone, so I can get in contact with you when you are not at the library?"

Mercy didn't have a problem with thi,s and she finished up their conversation by asking for his number, then keying in his cell number on her own cell and wasn't surprised that he texted her back instantly. Later that day, he would continue to send her texts, some were funny, some were cute, and some were just Sam, extra special.

As soon as Mercy got off of work, Sam eased his way over to the library greeting Marley, and holding the door for Mercy as she exited the building. "How did it go at the dog breeders?" Sam asked her as they went down the steps and headed to her SUV on the side of the building.

"It was successful, I am now the proud owner of a seven week old Golden Retriever puppy who is currently being puppy sat by my Aunt Jo. He is blonde and adorable and has big feet so I know he will be a good size dog." Mercy said excitedly.

"Mercy.." Sam began but was interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone playing some musical number from Broadway.

"Hi, Cooper, how are you doing today?" Mercy asked not caring how Sam was looking at her.

"I have been quite fine sweetie. I was wondering how did your time at the Yucatan go on Saturday night? Did you find anyone with potential?"

"Unfortunately, another fight broke out, so I had to leave early. I have decided to give up on the club scene; it is much too violent for me."

"How about I just recommend to you another club?" Cooper asked feeling that his link to finding the person slipping GHB into drinks was going to be lost.

"I don't know. I am kinda sorta dating someone right now." Mercy revealed not wanting to go into details with Sam standing beside her listening to every word of the conversation.

"So, you are not going clubbing tonight?"

"No, we are just about to get ready to go on a date, so I will have to call you later." Mercy said and quickly exchanged goodbyes with Cooper.

"Who in the hell was that and why does he know about you going to clubs looking for a man?"

"That was Cooper Anderson, and he was the man who helped with my makeover and help me move in and furnish my home. He is now a very good friend of mine." Mercy saying trying to prevent Sam from overreacting. And when she still saw the frown on his face, she added that Cooper was gay.

"No, Cooper Anderson is not gay."

"My mother and Aunt Jo says he is; we just don't believe he is out of the closet yet."

"So, that is why you were trying the gay test out on me. But I hate to tell you if the Cooper Anderson you are talking about owns an antique shop in Findlay and lives in that old Victorian that I studied to do my own renovations when I first got here, then he is definitely not gay."

"He helped me by teaching me how to apply makeup and helped me pick out my new clothes."

"I saw him with a woman when I first moved here more than once and his tongue was stuck down her throat on more than one occasion. That man is not gay, I don't care what you say."

"Why would he pretend to be gay? He even listens to Broadway musicals especially Patti Lupone in _Evita_ while singing alone in his car."

"I don't care, straight men can like musicals. I hear that musical _Hamilton_ is all the rage, and I wouldn't mind going to see it myself."

"So, what time are you going to pick me up to take me out to dinner?" Mercy asked to get him off of the conversation concerning Cooper's sexuality.

"I was coming over to ask if you could be ready in an hour." Sam said while looking her eyes and hoping that she was looking forward to tonight as much as he was.

"Okay, I need to go home and get ready." She said excitedly and got inside her vehicle gave him a wave as she saw him watching her before he headed back over to the police station.

Sam knew he had promised Lynn that he would go to the nightclubs and help him investigate, but he had to call his friend and tell him that he had a situation in Lima that he had to investigate himself. Cooper Anderson was playing some kind of game with Mercy, and Hunter Clarington was needing her information as well. One could be a coincidence, but two things like this didn't set right in Sam's mind. There was too much attention being given to one small town librarian, and Sam didn't like it all because nothing was adding up, and he couldn't stop the sense of foreboding that he felt.

He still needed to talk to Mercy about her choice in getting a Golden Retriever puppy instead of a German shepherd. There were other breeds that would give her a little bit more protection than a seven week old puppy. The dog was too friendly and would lick a potential threat instead of biting one in the ass. Anderson had called at that time, and their conversation had distracted him. After walking out of the precinct, Sam tried to put all of his negative thinking behind him and focus on his date with Mercy.

He had called her Aunt Jo and asked what Mercy's favorite flowers were. He had put in an order at the florist and had to pick them up when he was en route to her house. House if that little hovel could be called a house. Remember he said to himself aloud, 'stop being negative.' He had already purchased the candy he bought for her during his lunch time and took it to his house to chill in the refrigerator. This was his first time playing the role of a man who courted a woman, and he wanted to get everything right. He wanted to make their first date special, and he was trying to not let his thoughts rob him on what was bound to be a great night.

* * *

Hunter Clarington had not accomplished anything after he had gotten off the phone with Sam Evans. He couldn't believe that the tag registration belonged to Mercy Jones. Weston had told him the woman was a dark skinned brickhouse fox, nothing at all like his mousy and frumpy librarian. He would have wagered money on the fact that she had never been to a nightclub in her life. She fit the picture of his preconceptions of what a small town's librarian should be, so well, as the community's spinster librarian who shushed people and was loved by all the little children who she read books to during the summer reading program.

A niggle of a memory tried to push his through his brain causing him to recall hearing that Mercy had turned a new leaf or had gotten her leaf plucked. He couldn't remember what expression was used by two clerks who were chattering around the office coffee pot when he was passing through one day. As far as he knew, Mercy could have changed her looks and behavior, but he couldn't reconcile the last image he had seen of her with the one that Weston had described.

He didn't have to worry about his suspicions because as soon as he left his office he ran into her as she was headed to her SUV during her own lunch break. He could see the changes and he was stunned. He was hoping somebody had borrowed her car, and now, he knew that Mercy was the woman who Weston had saw, and this made him sick on his stomach.

Even though it pained him to do it, he had to call Weston. She had to be taken care of, and he didn't want to prolong this longer than necessary. A part of him still had a conscience, and having Mercy Jones terminated was eating his consciouness up to the core.

 **A/N: All the love that I keep getting for this story boggles my mind. Like I said I don't own the original idea and most of this chapter, but I do own up to all of my many mistakes. Thanks as always for reading, favoriting, following, and/or reviewing.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Triggers of Gang Rape from date rape drug and depression leading to suicide.*** this denotes the beginning and ending of the triggering material.*****

Chapter Sixteen

Nervously, Sam went to Mercy's door and knocked. He had the flowers in his other hand, and the candy underneath his arm as he waited for Mercy to come open the door. He had worn khakis and a white short-sleeved dress shirt because the weather was still quite warm, and the chilled candy felt good to him as he waited on his date to answer the door.

Mercy was so flustered. She had changed her outfit several times. The weather and playing with the puppy during her lunch break had caused her to sweat out her silk press. So, when she got home, she had showered, washed, and deep conditioned her hair using the products that Sheila had given her. She had easily reverted back to her curly hair, but her curls were elongated and with the cut quite stylish and not babyish. She had finally decided on wearing a floral printed Bohemian maxi hi-lo dress. The material was flowy and not clingy and made her think of the flower power period of the sixties. When she heard Sam at the door, she had just finished putting her accessories on.

She hurriedly went to door and was pleasantly surprised to find Sam with her favorite flowers, purple tulips, and an assorted box of chocolate candies. Because it was hot outside, Mercy greeted, thanked, and invited Sam in, so she could put the flowers in a vase and add water. She put the candies on her kitchen table, and then returned to Sam with a huge smile on her face. He looked handsome as he usually did, and if she was correct in her assumption, a tad bit nervous as he rubbed his hands together.

"Mercy, you look very nice. I don't know if I like you hair better curly or straight. You look equally as beautiful. I hate to rush you, but we should leave because I left my truck on with the air conditioning keeping it cool." Sam said. He rubbed his hands to prevent him for touching her. She was just so cute in an understated sexy way that made him long to touch her even more.

"Thanks again Sam for the flowers and candy, and thanks for keeping your truck cooled. Even though you are the chief of police, I doubt the criminal element that lives near here would be able to resist temptation and not go joyriding in your truck, if we linger inside too long. I just need to grab my clutch and phone, and then we can go." Mercy said smiling up at him, grinning wider than he ever saw her do before.

She was cute before she smiled, but that smile lit her face and eyes and Sam was awestruck at her quiet, understated beauty. He waited for her and opened the door, and followed her out. Asking for her key to lock the house, and then held hands with her as they walked to the truck. Sam quickly opened her door and assisted her inside before getting into his truck to drive to the restaurant.

On the way to the restaurant, she briefly chatted about her dog that didn't have a name yet, and how she wanted Sam to take her to her mother's house to pick him up after their date. Sam just nodded and agreed as he made his way to Breadstix. There were not a lot a people at the restaurant, Mercy noticed as Sam pulled into the parking lot. It was a Monday night, and Mercy was sure that the teenagers that frequented the place came on the weekends, and most people had leftovers from Sunday supper, so she could understand why they had the place almost to themselves. After they were seated, the two begin to talk about their childhoods, and Sam had her almost falling out of her chair laughing at the things he had gotten into as a child. She learned about his parents and his siblings, and she for once did more listening than talking.

Sam hadn't remember talking so much on a date in all of his life. He just felt that he could tell Mercy Jones anything. Although she might want to deny their friendship, he truly saw her as a friend. A friend he wanted to have sex with, but a friend nevertheless. When their meals finally arrived, Sam stopped talking so much and watched her pick over the food. "The food is not as good as your mother's I suppose." Sam said to Mercy watching her toy with her plate.

"It's not that. I just thought it was considered greedy to eat too much when you are out on a first date. I think I read in some of my magazines that it is best to not let your date see you eat a lot. That you shouldn't talk much but encourage your date to do most of the talking. I have been studying up on how to act on a date since my last one ended up being a nightmare." Mercy said trying to explain why she wasn't eating her meal. "Oops, I probably just broke one of the rules that I read by telling you all of this."

Sam couldn't stop the laughter that came from his mouth when she realized what she had revealed. "I am not laughing at you. I promise. I just don't understand why you care about how much you eat around me. We have shared dessert and just ate together yesterday at your mother's house, and may I add I saw you sop up gravy with a roll just like I do, and I thought it was adorable."

"Sam Evans, how dare you bring that up! That wasn't a date, so that meal didn't count."

"I don't care what that magazine said. I used to date a lot of women who spent so much time on their looks that they would deny themselves food, so they could fit society's mold. There is nothing wrong with being healthy, naturally thin, or naturally curvy. It is just when a woman reduces herself to existing on protein shakes, salads, etc., it is something that I am not into all. I like food, and I like being with people who enjoy food as well. The reason, that I am not chubby as I was as a kid, is because I workout to stay in shape."

"I did notice that you do have a body of a fitness model and an appetite of a lumberjack."

"I am not vain about it. Working out helps me with managing my stress, and I admit I love the endorphins that I feel when I get in the zone. I am not compulsive, but I do try to keep fit."

"So, are you what my Aunt Jo refers to herself as being an inner fat person? A person who loves to eat but takes the time to make sure you burn all the calories so you won't gain weight."

"I guess I am. I love good food, music, gin, whiskey, bourbon, and having fun when I am off work. And I can admit that I am getting a little addicted to hanging around a certain librarian."

"Well, I have never had gin, whiskey, or bourbon, but I enjoy those other things as well as reading a good book. You should have also add that you like flirting with ladies."

"I only flirt with you. When I complimenting the older ladies in town, I feel like I am doing a public service."

Mercy laughed at this. "Do you think we can get a carryout container. It really was good, and I am not following the advice of the article or I wouldn't ask. I just thought I could take it tomorrow to work for lunch."

'That's an excellent idea. I just hope that the heat from my truck doesn't cause it to spoil."

"Why would it get hot in your truck?" Mercy asked as Sam paid for the meal and the waitress put Mercedes almost untouched meal in a carryout container with the two remaining breadsticks.

"Because I have somewhere else that I want to take you before our date is over." Sam said as he guided her out of the restaurant. Sam had thought that it would be corny, but he couldn't think of anywhere else to go that she might love during a hot summer night but to Books A Million.

When they pulled up at the mall, Mercy thought maybe Sam was taking her to the movie complex, but when he opened her door and led her inside to BAM, she wanted to laugh. It was one of her favorite places to go to in the mall, but she never thought it would be part of her date with Sam. They walked around the store, and Sam watched her as she read the back of book jackets of newly released books that she hadn't read from her favorite authors. Sam even took her to his favorite section which included books on home renovations. Then, the two went to Joe Muggs Coffee and ordered frappes. Sam also ordered a brownie while she ordered the lemon bar.

They ate their treats in the cafe part of the store with Sam forcing her to try the brownie which she didn't want to while drinking her Soy Mocha Frappe with whipped cream, but she relented when he gave her his puppy dog eyes. She offered him a piece of her lemon bar as well. After eating, Sam took her hand and went back to the section of the store she had spent the longest, and he encouraged her to find a book that she would like to start reading the most.

Sam wanted to buy Mercy a book a book to commemorate their first date. He was taking this courting thing seriously, and a part of him want to prove to Mercy that she should really take a chance on him and forget about meeting and dating other dudes. When she finished the chapter, he asked her if it was a good book, and when she said yes, Sam took the book from her and pretended to read it to see what it was about. He kept the book in one hand while helping her to get up with the other. He kept her busy asking questions about the book and the author as he made his way to the available cashier where he paid for the book much to Mercy's protests.

"Sam, you didn't have to buy me a book. I could have ordered it on Amazon and read it on my Kindle for half that price." She told him as they walked out the bookstore. This time Sam had his arm around her waist while he ushered her outside of the mall to his truck.

"I know I didn't have to. I just wanted to. I wanted to have an ideal first date with you Mercy Jones, and I want you to enjoy spending time with me as much as I enjoy spending time with you. I also wanted to prove to you that I am not all about getting inside of your panties, even though I am not opposed to that. Before you shut me down, I am not even going to try that on the first date, but I do hope you won't be opposed to some lip action. Seeing you eat that lemon bar and drink that frappe did remind just how good you are as a kisser."

"You think I am a good kisser?"

"Out of everything I said you want to question that?" Sam asked before leaning over to kiss her in his truck. He knew she would taste as sweet as their treats and drinks. He knew he shouldn't have started kissing her while parked in the parking lot of the Lima Mall, but he couldn't help himself as she eagerly returned the kiss.

"Wow."

"If we didn't have to go and pick up your puppy, I would like to stay here and do a lot more of that. As I said earlier, you are a great kisser." Sam said unable to resist licking her lips before moving back to the driver's seat to put his seatbelt on.

"Well, if I am a good kisser it's because of you. I think I could get addicted to kissing you." Mercy said cursing herself for not having a filter.

"That's good to hear. I thought I was the only one suffering from addiction. Now, let's change the subject before we end up recreating Saturday night. There is only so much temptation a man can take." Sam said and listened to her thanking him for the book and how much she had really enjoyed spending time with him.

By the time they had made it to her mother's, her Aunt Jo and her mom looked as if they were worn out. "That little puppy you have has got way too much energy. He has not been fully house trained, and the work that your mother and I had to do to keep him from destroying the house and going outside to potty was a lot. He is going to be coming here every day while you are at work, so we will housebreak him for you, but I doubt that we will ever volunteer to let him stay the night."

"You hush Jo, you said running around after him allowed you to eat two pieces of my whipping cream pound cake with ice cream without worrying about gaining an ounce. You loved every minute of it except when he tried to chew the furniture. But we decided to buy baby gates from Walmart and keep him contained to one room. If you like, we will buy extra for you to use at your house."

"I would ask you two how did your date go, but I can see you two are smiling like a bunch of idiots, and Sam is wearing more of your lipstick than you are, so I can safely assume that it went great." Aunt Jo said looking at Sam looking at Mercy who was treating the puppy as if he were her baby.

"Joanna, do you have to prove to Sam time and time again that you have no manners? You don't have to pay her attention. It's getting dark, and I know you both have to work tomorrow, so have a goodnight, and I will call you later tonight or in the morning, Mercy."

After goodnights were exchanged, Sam carried the puppy in his carrier to his truck and put him on the back. The drive to Mercy's house didn't take long, and Sam carried the puppy inside his new home.

The puppy had fallen asleep, and so he woke up confused when he was let out of the carrier and he went around the house exploring his new territory.

"You know that you should name him right?"

"I know but I wanted to see him in action before deciding his name."

"Well, I think you aunt might suggest Damien."

"Very, funny Sam. I was thinking of something more befitting him." She said before witnessing the puppy tearing up his puppy pads.

"Your aunt was right he has an oral fixation and likes to put his mouth on everything. You could call him Oral F. F being short for fixation."

"Sam, you know you are crazy right?"

"Well, why don't you come up with a name, so when you aunt is taking him to obedience school, she will have know how to address him when giving him orders.

"You are speaking too much negativity over my baby. I will call him what he is going to become, so every time someone says his name they will be speaking positively about him."

"I don't think Obedient would be a good name for a dog."

After much thought and going by the golden color of his coat, Mercy had a burst of inspiration. "I have decided to call him Leo which means lion. He will be a force to be reckon with, a Little Simba, now but he will grow into being a king."

"Why not just call him Simba. I think he is more a Simba than a Leo. Leo sounds like an old man and too catlike to be dog friendly."

"Okay, I agree. His name is Simba. Simba come here boy. Come to mama."

The dog just kept chewing and destroying the pads, paying her no attention at all. "I see that you are going to have you work cut out for you. Do you think you will need help with him tonight? I am more than willing to sleep on that couch and ottoman and help you out."

"Sam, I couldn't ask you to do that."

"Well, I would feel better if I stayed. I promise you no hanky panky. But after running your tag number for the mayor today after he lied about seeing your car parked at the dentist, I would feel better knowing that you are alright."

"I think he must have given you the wrong number."

"I just got a feeling in my gut that he didn't. And I can see him asking about you around town, and when he founds out that we are supposedly in the middle of a hot affair, he may get antsy and follow through with his plans for you whatever those plans may be." Sam stopped talking when he saw her reading a text on her phone.

"Oh, that was just my aunt reminding me to take him out in an hour to pee. It seems he needs to go every two hours like clockwork."

"I guess you will need help, I don't care if you do have a fence, I am not comfortable with you going outside every two hours in this neighborhood. I will just be your security system until you have one installed."

"I don't…" Mercy was not able to finish what she was saying because Sam took to distracting her first by kissing, licking, and sucking the neck area that was left exposed by her dress, and then kissing her lips, and quickly, she forgot their conversation until she felt Sam jerk away from her. She looked down to see Simba chewing and pulling on Sam's shoestrings on his loafers. The more Sam tried to shake him off the harder the puppy gripped.

"Stop, heel Simba. I know it looks as if Sam was trying to eat mommy, but I assure you he wasn't or I would have screamed. You are going to be the best protector ever." Mercy said rescuing Sam by bending down and picking up Simba who curled into her arms like an infant.

* * *

Sam was on his third cup of coffee because last night at Mercy's had been an all nighter. Between hearing the puppy whining and crying when Mercy closed the door to her room, taking him outside to do his business, and seeing Mercy in her nightgown and not being able to allow his hands the freedom to do what they wanted to do which was to peel it off, Sam kept having dreams that were totally inspired by her night apparel. He had followed her over to her mother's to drop Simba off, and then headed home to shower and dress, and he was at his job by nine.

As soon as he got to work, he decided to investigate Cooper Anderson first thing that morning by just going to his job in Findlay and questioning him. He didn't have any problems in locating Anderson's Antiques, and he pulled his truck in and parked not far from the entrance. Sam saw the salesman working in the store was average in size, in his mid to late forties, and looked very familiar to him. He had seen the man at the Yucatan Club. This caused Sam's curiosity to be thrown into overdrive.

"Is Cooper Anderson available?"

"No, he's tied up with a client at the moment. Is there anything that I can help you with?"

"I don't think, so. I need to talk you and your boss." Sam said and showed the man his police badge.

"Oh, you're the chief of police of Lima. I do believe that you are outside your jurisdiction."

"Whatever, I need to see Anderson and it's about Mercy Jones."

"Damn it, don't tell me she went to a club alone. Cooper is in his office. Follow me."

"I do believe you are Chief Evans." Cooper said giving Will a questioning glance as both men came into his office. He got up and shook Evans' hand.

"I do believe that you are full of bullshit. I don't know what's going on, but I do now that your assistant isn't a sales clerk and, he knows too much about Mercy and the Yucatan Club to be innocent of whatever game you call yourself playing. A game that could result in Mercy losing her life."

"I am sorry, but I don't know what you are talking about." Cooper denied.

"Oh, you don't know about your ruse to pretend like you are gay and gain Mercy's trust, and I won't feel sorry when I blow that cover for you wide open."

Cooper laughed. "You are really funny. Me pretending."

"Yes, you see when I moved in my own Victorian I looked to yours as an example to do my renovations. I know your automobile because I have seen it parked in front of your house on one my visits. Well, being a newcomer to the area, I took to riding all the roads and learning the city really well. I have seen you in that car with the same woman at motels with your tongue down her throat while you were trying to open up the door to the room. Do you want me to describe this lady to you?"

"Yes, please do so," Will said not expecting this to occur in their conversation.

"Please don't. You have been busy Evans getting to know all of the people in Lima business."

"I don't care what the consenting people of Lima are doing unless it's illegal. I just care about what you are doing with Mercy Jones."

Will answered first, "I am only trying to keep an eye on her to make sure nothing happens to her."

"Why send her there if you think she needs somebody there to watch out for her?"

"I don't believe she is totally helpless just naive. I wanted to make sure she didn't get hurt."

"Well, who knows what you have gotten her involved in or what could have happened to her. She could have been gang raped by someone slipping something in her drink and sharing her with his friends. Did you even warn Mercy about not letting anyone buy her something to drink or to not leave her drink unattended especially when she dances?"

"I didn't need to. Will was there to watch and make sure none of that happened to her."

"So, Will's eyes were on her at all times. Will, how many times did you have go to the bathroom or dance to keep your cover or lost sight of her in the crowds?"

"I did my best to keep an eye on her."

"Well, your best wasn't good enough. Her first night in the club, and she lets some guy go to the bar to buy her drink that she doesn't even know. And a guy grabs her and places her on his lap who was too big for her to fight off. That was just night one. So, I am certain your best was far from being good enough. You two are low down scum using her as if she is bait. She is not a trained officer, and what you are doing better be worth risk losing her life, or I am going to expose both of your covers."

"Mercy is helping me with a personal matter. I have been helping her while she inadvertently helps me."

"Just get to the facts. I don't have all day."

"What's with your personal interest in Mercy? Unless there is more to the condom story than she is telling. I do believe she has got you hook, line, and sinker. I knew all she needed was a little enhancements to her natural beauty and better clothes, and men would discover her charming and caring personality."

"The facts Anderson," Sam reminded him not wanting to hear about men discovering anything about his woman.

 ******* "A woman I was dating wanted to spend more time with me and we fought about this, but I was busy building up information for a case that I am working on. So, she went with a bunch of friends that night instead to the Yucatan Club. She wasn't into the dancing, so she stayed at the bar and was offered a drink. Because she was mad at me for ditching her, she took him up on his offer and began to chat with him. The last thing that she remembered was suddenly feeling sleepy. She had no memory of what happened next but when she woke up the next day she discovered that she had been raped and sodomized. She went immediately to the hospital and from the evidence gathered, she had been gang raped by six different men, and she only had a vague recollection of the guy who bought her the drink, so the cops had nothing to go on."

"So, that is why you sent Mercy in to draw this fellow or group of men out? You wanted her to end up ganged raped like your girlfriend, just so you could catch these people instead of handing it over to the police and using an undercover female officer like I suggested earlier?"

"It became a police cold case. They are understaffed and underfunded as you well know."

"You don't know how God is sparing your life right now. I so want to hurt you, but I got to know if someone had drugged Mercy what was Will supposed to do? Call you and have you show up at the club and kill the man and his friends in the club's parking lot."

"I hadn't plan that far ahead, but I do know I do like the sound of that."

"You are crazy. You would have no proof that it was the same guy or group of guys. You would end up killing someone who may or may not be guilty of what happened to your girlfriend."

"I don't care if it had ended up being the wrong person. It would still be someone who was doing a crime that is despicable and almost unsolvable. Somebody would be getting justice for all of those who are unable to get justice for what these men are doing. Besides, I owe it to the woman I was telling you about. The same woman you saw with me at the hotel kissing. The real reason we argued is that she wanted to get married, and I was too busy working this case, and I told her I couldn't because of my cover story."

"For the case you are really working on."

"Yes, I love the assignment that Will and I have. It allowed me to come home and meet her. But I don't want to believe that my love for my job caused the love of my life to go to that club and become brutally raped."

"Did she go to therapy?" Sam knew that it was a good chance that the lady suffered from PTSD like he did. She probably had the depression, the nightmares, and the what ifs that could drive a person wild with insanity. He didn't want to think of how she would be unable to enjoy being intimate with the man she loved after this brutal assault that she couldn't even remember.

"She didn't remain in therapy. It all became too much, and she committed suicide."

"What in the hell, man! You never told me any of this shit. You just said a friend of yours was raped. I am truly sorry for all your pain and not being there for you during your loss." Will said looking at Cooper with all of his masks off his face, and the pain shining through like a beacon of despair instead of hope.

"I am sorry, too, but I still can't help wanting to beat you to a bloody pulp. I want to do to you what you want to do to those slugs that raped your girlfriend, and I would enjoy doing it."

"What the hell Evans, you went from condolences to threatening murder." Will said looking at him in wonderment.

"It's to be expected Will, our police chief has fallen head over heels in love with Mercy, and that is why he is so mercurial." Cooper said with a smile on his face that lacked any emotion.

"Nobody deserves to be betrayed the way you have betrayed her, and especially not her. Someone who would apologize for hurting someone who accosted her. She is too good for this shit, and the sad thing is that you know this Cooper." Sam said not acknowledging the fact that Cooper had accused him of falling in love with Mercy. He didn't understand how if any of this related to Mayor Clarington's inquiry about Mercy, and thought that maybe these two numbskulls could help him. Lord knows that they owed it to Mercy for using her.

 ******* "I also have something else that has come up about Mercy that I can't begin to figure out or understand."

"What is it?" Cooper asked with true concern in his voice.

"Are you guys working for the state, the feds, or someone else?"

Cooper looked at Will, and Will answered, "we are working on a federal case involving interstate fraud."

"Okay, I don't care about the case, but I need you two to help me to figure out what I am up against."

"We can't do anything to blow our covers." Will said.

"What I need doesn't require that you do so. The mayor called me yesterday telling me a lie about finding a vehicle parked in a fire lane and asking me to run the license plate numbers. He gave me a cockamanie excuse about not wanting to give the person a ticket but wanting to warn them instead."

"That's our mayor of Lima all heart." Cooper muttered remembering his history at Dalton which was a K-12 school, so his tenure there intercepted with Clarington's. Hunter Clarington was no paragon of virtue.

"Well, I ran the numbers and lo and behold it belong to Mercy, who doesn't even go to Dr. Howell and who would never park in a fire lane. So, my question is why is the mayor lying and who needs to know that the tag belongs to Mercy?"

"Maybe someone from the Yucatan Club. She doesn't go anywhere else but there, work, and home. Maybe they saw her and wanted to contact her." Cooper opined.

"They would have the foresight to know that she wouldn't be back and that the only way to get in touch with her was through the mayor? That doesn't add up."

"I can't help you figure this out."

"And the men that I have seen interested in her are not smart enough to go through all that to get her information." Will added.

"I don't know but this has caused me to develop a sense of foreboding that won't go away."

"Okay,, we will help you dig into this. By the way, where are you from I know it's not here with your accent. And you are too perceptive to be an average police officer."

"I am from Tennessee, and I used to work SWAT teams in both Nashville and Memphis."

"So, you have had this feeling before?" Will asked.

"Yes, and I have never been wrong. The last time I felt it, one of my good friends died in my arms hours later."

"Well, that's good enough for me. How can we help you?" Cooper asked.

"You can't yet. I am going to investigate Hunter Clarington. There is some good news because Mercy just moved to that horrible place on Lincoln, the address on her registration is wrong. There's no official information on her new address, unless someone gets the information from utilities, which the mayor can, but it would seem highly suspicious, if he asks."

"I am no hacker, but if you can get me into the city's system, I can change her information from the outside." Will offered.

"I will work on getting her information blocked from the electricity company." Cooper added. "If she has a house phone, she needs to make sure her number is unlisted or anyone using a computer can find her."

"I will take care of that end. I don't know what the hell is going on for someone to want to track her down, but until I discover the reason, I am going to need your help to put her on 24 hour surveillance."

"We have been working this case for what seems like forever. If the case gains some momentum, then Will and I will be too busy to help. But until that happens, we are free to help you off the record."

"Thanks guys. It will be a case of you helping your friend, and nobody else needs to know."

 **A/N: Whew I went overboard with Samcedes, and maybe should have made this two chapters instead of one. I know Cooper's betrayal of Mercy is unredeemable, but I hope you all got to see where he is coming from. As always, I don't own the original idea and a good bit of this chapter, but I do own up to all of my errors. Thanks as always for reading, favoriting, following, and/or reviewing. I keep getting new alerts daily, and it boggles my mind but inspires me to keep typing away until this tale is complete. Still so many unanswered questions….**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Sam called and checked on Mercy at the library as soon he was back in Lima. Then, he went into his office and finished all his official business as police chief. He decided to pretend that everything was normal and left the police station at the same time, he had been leaving before all this occurred. He wanted to make sure that nobody was going to think that he was going back to the police department, so he called his office phone to make sure that Emma had gone home. Emma's omnipresence was something that could seem suspicious, but she did a good job even though she was a little neurotic. He had even borrowed a car from a friend to drive in Findlay earlier because he truly believed that Emma was tracking his location. And that is why, he was still driving the same car back to his office with his vehicles left in plain set in his driveway.

Sam had arranged for Cooper to visit Mercy after work to allow her to show off her new dog to him without making Mercy suspicious. So, he knew she was not alone, and he had the time he needed to do a little breaking and entering. He had dressed in all black and wore the same black baseball cap he had worn earlier when he went to Findlay. Because Lima closed down at six, he wasn't surprised that most people were in their beds at eight when he left for police department. He entered his office from the rear and wasn't surprised when he saw his second-shift desk sergeant, Holly Holiday looking up to him in surprise.

"Is everything alright, chief?" She asked her face filled with concern.

"I am thinking about doing some undercover work to discover when Emma gets to work. I am prepared to stay the night."

"You are going to regret doing that. She is kind of psychic and will be able to know what you are up to and will more than likely call in sick."

"I was just kidding, but good to know. I just had some work I had to finish up because tomorrow I have a meeting with the police chief in Findlay, and I won't be able to take care of it."

"Alright, chief, don't work too long, I hear a certain librarian might be missing you if you do."

Sam didn't bother to reply but headed to his office and pretended to be at his desk doing work. He got the key that allowed him to use the tunnel that connected the police department to city hall when prisoners had to be transported to court. It was a two key entrance and exit with the other key in the past being held by the city manager who had lost this responsibility, when it was discovered that he was the tunnel to conduct illicit affairs. That Sandy Ryerson was a piece of work.

He unlocked the door and went inside the tunnel and remembered to lock it back just in case someone was trying to follow him. He took his penlight and used it to illuminate the door on the other end of the tunnel, so he would be able to unlock it. Nobody was supposed to be in city hall after five, so Sam wasn't worried about making a sound. The building was dark as it should be. Sam had studied the floorplan, so he could maneuver around without having to use his light. The first place he had to enter was the water department. He used his picks to unlock the door and made his way over to the clerk's computer; the clerk was an absent-minded lady with the first name of Sugar. She like many people left her password taped underneath her keyboard, and he was easily able to use it to log on.

He called Will, and Will walked him through the steps of going through the programs to finding billing. He was able to find Mercy's name and followed the directions giving by Will to change her address to his. Sam thanked Will for his help and ended the call. He saved the changes, and closed Mercy's file. He closed out the window and shut the computer down, and then made his way to the second part of his two part mission. He headed upstairs to the mayor's office.

Sam wasn't surprised, when he studied the building's layout, to find out that mayor's office was set up like his. His office had two entrances one via the secretary, and the other entrance that did not have a sign was located a little farther down the hall. He examined the locks and discovered that they were a little bit more sophisticated than the ones in the water department.

Sam decided to use Clarington's secretary, Shelby''s door, even though he was wearing gloves, he knew that more people used this entrance and there was a chance that she could have accidentally left it unlocked. Sam put his pen flashlight in his mouth and used his picks, expired credit cards, and other tools to unlock the door. It took him longer than it had earlier with the water department's door. He was way out of practice. He didn't reveal all the trainings he had when he had become a member of the SWAT and Bomb squad. But, the training was rigorous, and each member of the squad had to know how to enter a locked building, dismantle several types of bombs, as well as many other unpublicized skills that he never talked about.

After five minutes, Sam had entered the mayor's office and thought how easy it was to break and enter without much of a trace. Yet, there were criminals who broke windows, kicked in doors, crawled underneath houses and sawed holes in floor which was just idiotic to him. The only thing that sawing a hole did was not alert a security system. Sam believed that basements should have concrete floors for that reason alone. If a person wanted to break into a house, they could disarm the alarm, but using an alarm system with signs, cameras, and burglar bars were deterrents that kept most thieves from a home when they could rob someone else with much easier access.

Sam was surprised that the door that led to Clarington's office from Shelby's was unlocked. Sam didn't understand why the mayor would do this. Maybe he thought nobody would ever get passed Shelby, so he never concerned himself with locking or unlocking that particular door. But it was careless, unless the mayor didn't keep confidential material out. After an hour of searching the office, there was nothing that Sam could use. So, he carefully restacked all the papers he had moved and left the mayor's office and went back through the tunnel to the police department.

* * *

After Sam had left the precinct, he texted Cooper and told him that he was on his ways to Mercy's house, so the guy could come up with an excuse to leave right as Sam was around the corner from her house. Then, he texted her and asked if it was okay if he came by to check on her and Simba, and she texted back yes please which surprised Sam. Sam saw Cooper's vehicle leaving and waved at the man before taking the parking place that had become available. He hadn't seen Mercy since this morning, and he missed her. Cooper was right about one thing, he had obviously flipped his lid for her.

Artie had always accused him of falling in love too quickly case in point his ex-wife, but Sam knew when he found someone who was his soulmate, and he unfortunately was guilty of latching on too quickly which might scare away someone who was commitment phobic. Luckily, for him the two women who he fell for were not commitment phobic. Mercy wanted a relationship; she just didn't think he was her best option for the love, marriage, and baby carriage dream that she held dear.

When Sam knocked on her door, the first thing he noticed about her was that she looked how he felt which was exhausted. "How was your day today?" Sam asked with concern as he followed her into her home.

"I got a phone call at two from my mother informing me that Simba was too rambunctious to keep in the house the baby gates only contained him but didn't prevent him from whining and crying whenever he wanted to explore more of the house. So using my extra key, she and Aunt Jo took him to my house, so he could run around in my fenced in backyard. As soon as I got home, they bolted, and I knew that Simba had ran them into the ground with his energy."

Mercy had to stop talking to try to stifle a yawn. "When they left, Cooper arrived and wanted to see Simba. I thought this was a good idea because Cooper could watch him while I changed my clothes and fixed dinner without having to corral Simba in the hallway with the baby gates, my mom and aunt had installed."

"Sounds like you haven't been able to take a break today." Sam said.

"All I wanted was a nap, but I guess I am going to have to be like a mother and time my naps with his naps. Aunt Jo told me that he only operates on two speeds: full chaotic speed and so slow I must be sleep speed. I guess Cooper's presence made him extra hyper, so this is the first time I have been home that he is sleeping and not knocking over his water bowl, chewing whatever takes his fancy, or barking, crying, and whining. I really believe he misses his family and is experiencing separation anxiety."

"Simba will get over it. I told you getting a puppy was going to be hard work. You are just lucky that I like you so much that I am willing to help you out. I am going to be a friend to you and insist you get ready for bed. I will take Simba out to pee when he wakes up."

"Sam, I couldn't ask you to do this…"

"You are not asking. I am volunteering. Now, go and get some rest. You are barely able to stand on your two feet. You are exhausted."

"Alright, I will go and take a two hour nap, if you don't mind locking the door when you leave I would really appreciate it."

"I am worn out myself. Your couch is pretty comfortable. So, I will stay the night just so Simba is taken care of if you decide you can't force yourself to wake up. As a police officer, I am used to working without sleep. You aren't so get some shuteye, love." Sam said as he escorted her to her bedroom.

"You know that if you keep this up, I may be prone to let you...you know enter my bedroom." Mercy said so drunk with sleep that she was likely to say any and every thing.

"Ah woman, if you weren't so tired, I would actually be willing to give you a little something something that would make you want me to lock me up and keep me in your bedroom."

"Sam, this is not the time for sexy Sam to make an appearance. I can't handle him right now. Maybe later." She said and stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek before thanking him and turning into her room to see if her bed felt as good as she remembered it.

Oh yeah, he sure as hell was, what had she called him ... sexy Sam, yeah, that was it. Yep, sexy Sam was most definitely going to reappear later and fully begin to show Miss Mercy just how irresistible he could be. Sam thought as he made himself comfortable on her couch and fell asleep not long after having this thought.

He was soon awaken by Simba chewing on his sock that just happened to be attached to his foot. He checked his watch and saw it was just after eleven. He got the puppy's leash and took him outside and allowed him to do his business and waited for him to get tired out chasing grasshoppers. When he re-entered Mercy's house. He put the leash away and washed his hands before showing the dog his bed and encouraging him to lie down in it. Every time Sam would get him settle, the puppy would come back and pull on Sam's sock. Finally, Sam took off both of his socks and threw them into the puppy's bed. He left Sam alone long enough for him to go sleep.

The next day Mercedes woke up and got ready and went into to her den and found the cutest sight imaginable. She went back to get her cell phone to take a picture of Sam and Simba. Simba was laying on Sam's chest with what appeared to be one of Sam's socks in his mouth. She couldn't retain a giggle, and her giggle woke up Sam who looked down at Simba and then up at her.

"I see you that you are trying to steal my dog from me," Mercedes told him jokingly.

"Your dog is now fixated on my feet. After I gave him my socks last night to sleep with in his bed, he got up and licked my feet. This woke me up, so I got up and gave him my sock and went back to sleep only to wake up now to find him laying on my chest with my sock in his mouth. Leave it to you to have a weird dog."

"I have been called weird myself, so I guess that makes us a perfect match." Mercy said as she gently picked up Simba and placed him in his doggy bed."Would you like for me to fix you breakfast? I know I shouldn't feel this way, but I really do think I should cook you something to show my gratitude for your help with Simba these past two nights."

"I won't turn down a free meal especially if it's something that you have learned to cook from your mom."

"How does homemade biscuits sound?"

"You know how to cook homemade biscuits?"

"I sure do. If you would like to go home and shower and come back, I will have a breakfast of biscuits, eggs, and turkey bacon waiting on your return."

"Do you mind if I shower here? I have some clothes in my car that I can change into."

"Sure, I am not going to ask why you have a change of clothing in your car, but I will cook and then we'll eat, and I am sure that rascal will wake up when he smells food." She said looking at him looking angelically good in his bed.

"Do you need to take him to your mother's today?"

"No, her and Aunt Jo need him to be here until he gets his chewing compulsion under control and because he needs a place to run around, and their back yard is not fenced in like mine. I told them to let themselves in whenever they get here."

Sam went outside and got the bag he had packed yesterday in case he ended up not staked outside her house but was actually allowed in to stay the night. He had the clothes he was wearing to work, underwear, disposable razor, aftershave, toothbrush, and deodorant. As soon as he was back in the house, he hit the showers and got ready with much speed when he began to smell her biscuits baking causing his mouth to water in anticipation.

"Mercy that meal was fabulous." Sam said complimenting her after devouring not one, not two, not three but four of the biscuits with the maple syrup she provided along with the bacon and eggs.

"Thanks, Sam. You are really not the guy that I thought you were. This is nice spending time with you without being provoked but appreciated. I may get used to it." Mercy said looking at him with a smile on her face as he insisted on doing dishes because she had cooked, and she wondered was he trying to get in her panties or was he just this nice and selfless. She had no experience with men, and she didn't want to be misreading their situation.

Before she could say another word, she heard the key in the lock and was surprised to find her Aunt Jo and mother at her house so early until she looked at the time and realized that she had only thirty minutes to get to work. Good thing she only lived fifteen minutes away from her job.

"So, Sam do I need to ask if this is an early morning breakfast date or did you spend the night here cleaning out Mercy's cobwebs?" Mercy's Aunt Jo came up to him by the sink and ask so that only he could hear.

Sam couldn't stop himself from bursting out in laughter which caused Simba to wake up and give a tiny bark. "Neither and you deserve that little hellion waking up to make your day start off early with dealing with his exuberant energy."

"Good morning Mercy and Sam, Jo stop flirting with Sam and help me by putting this PetSafe Small Dog Training Collar on Simba. I wanted to do it while he was sleep, but this is a training collar that will hopefully work to train him from tearing up the house without causing him pain and giving us headaches."

"Good morning Mrs. Jones, and that's a great idea."

"Good morning mom and Aunt Jo. Thanks for thinking of this mom. You are the best. I need to finish getting ready for work. Sam, thanks again, I know you have to be leaving for work, too." Mercy said as she went to sink to his other side and turned the water off and led him back to the couch to retrieve his shoes, gun, and wallet the things he hadn't taken to the bathroom to shower, while her Aunt Jo tried to help her mom install the dog collar and program the remote that came with it.

"I will wait on you and follow you to work." Sam said causing Mercy to want to shake him.

"We are not going to question him Mercy. If you and Sam are sleeping together, it is really nobody's business but your own as long as you two are practicing safe sex, which I wouldn't think would be a problem with that jumbo size box of condoms that you own." Aunt Jo said aloud causing Mercy to want to sink into the floor in embarrassment.

"Leave her alone, Jo. There are somethings that you don't discuss in mixed company." Mercy's mom said as she watched her daughter flee into her bedroom to finish getting ready for work.

Sam just gathered his stuff and told the ladies to have a good day because he had good enough sense to know when to leave things alone. He backed out of the driveway grateful that Mrs. Jones hadn't blocked him in and waited around the corner until he saw Mercy get in her car and leave for work. He went around the block and followed her with an ample distance between the two of them. She wouldn't know the car because last night it was too dark to see it, and he doubted if she looked at this morning. When he saw her enter the library, he went back to his house and got into the police car that he usually drove to work. His friend was going to use his spare key to come and pick up his car from Sam's house later on and drive it to Mercy's house later that day.

Mercy couldn't believe how chaotic her life was now and all because she had gotten a puppy. Last night was a blessing because she desperately needed the full night's sleep that her body had been missing. Even though she wanted to fool herself, she had to stop living in denial. She was in a relationship with Sam Evans whether she wanted to be in one or not.

Since their date, she hadn't thought about other men or nightclubs or even setting up profiles to begin online dating. She really hadn't had any time to do so with the puppy and spending time with Sam. She know that children were a touchy subject for him, and she didn't want to lay all her eggs in one basket, but she could admit that she liked him more and more because he was doing and saying all the right things. What was there not to like about a sexy man who gave her the first date of her dreams and was willing to go beyond their relationship and help her with her puppy? Aunt Jo didn't scare him away, and he the issue of race didn't seem to be an issue for him. She had dated outside her race before Jacob was an example of that, so she had no qualms about his race, and he seemed to have no qualms about hers.

They hadn't even known each other that long, and she had let him sleep in her house not one but two nights. And he hadn't tried to have sex with her. Was he the perfect guy? Or was he behaving perfect so he could get what he wanted? Hell, what but of them wanted. She was so conflicted on whether or not she should see where this thing with Sam could go or just use him to take care of the itch that he had given her that was desperately in need of scratching. She knew that good girls didn't put out so early in a relationship, but she was done with being a good girl, and what could be the worse thing that could happen if she allowed Sam to give her the pleasure that he had boasted in being able to provide? She just didn't know what to do or how to process the feelings that were coursing through her.

She decided to do a pros and cons list. And when she finished looking at the list, the pros outnumbered the cons five to two. The only drawbacks from being in a sexual relationship with Sam was that one of them could get hurt if the other decided to move on and the other was that it could prevent her from finding the man of her dreams who was willing to marry and give her babies. Was she willing to become temporarily derailed from her goal? She didn't know but it looked as if she and Sam were going to have to have a conversation and this time, she would do most of the talking.

She looked at the list and looked at the one pro that made her laugh inside. The number one reason she and Sam should go at it like rabbits because everyone including her mother thought that they were doing it anyway. She knew her mother and aunt were going to want to talk about this morning, and she needed to talk to Sam before she had this conversation with them. She wasn't going to let them be in her business, but she wasn't going to allow them to believe that she was sleeping with Sam when she wasn't.

She texted Sam and asked if they could have a lunch date, and he texted her back, how had she read his mind. That was another thing she liked about him. He would send the craziest but sometimes sweetest texts. She got her mind off of Sam and devoted her thoughts to her job which she was getting paid to do. And was more anxious than delighted when Marley came to work and she could take her lunch break.

Because the conversation between them had to be private, she suggested that they go to her mother's house for lunch. She asked her mom if it was okay if Sam and she ate any leftovers, and her mother agreed since she still had some of the pot roast leftover from Sunday's supper that she was going to have throwaway soon. Mercy got to her mom's house before Sam and unlocked the doors and breathed in her old home's scent. There was truly no place like home. Dorothy had that right as she smelled the scent of an apple pie that her mom must have recently baked.

She went into the kitchen and had just placed the casserole dish in the microwave when she heard Sam knocking on the door. She went to answer it and let him in. He had obviously went home or to the grocery store to bring over a jug of Arnold Palmer. He was just so special. "Sam, you don't have to bring me something every time we have a date. I am pretty low maintenance if you couldn't already tell."

"I know but I was raised in the South, and my mother always told me when you go calling on people that it's nice to have something special to give them to them. That way they won't mind you coming back."

"I don't think you have to worry about that. I think Simba has already decided that you are a part of his new pack that includes me, my mom, and Aunt Jo. I know he is grateful for another male."

"Oh, so that's why you want me around because I am the doggy sock whisperer." Sam teased as he helped her get the dish out of the microwave. Mercy then got two paper plates and filled Sam's up with most of the meat and potato dish, while she had a normal size serving. She spotted the Hawaiian rolls that her mother always bought when she wasn't in a baking mood and gave Sam one, while she gave herself two which caused him to lift his eyebrow at her.

"I know it's wrong that I enjoy the gravy more than the meat, but I am unfortunately fatally addicted to soft starches more so than any meat and veggies."

"I don't care about that. I care that you only gave me one. I know I put away a lot of biscuits this morning, but I think I deserve the right to be offered two rolls." Sam said teasingly as he followed her to the table in the kitchen, a place that he hadn't the pleasure of eating at before.

Mercy just laughed and blessed the food before digging in. When they talked about Aunt Jo sending Mercy's pictures of Simba whenever the collar gave him a shock and the expression of his face which her aunt abbreviated as WTF, both she and Sam couldn't help but laugh. Her mom had even sent a video when Simba finally got the message. It looks as if she would be able to take the baby gates down and allow him freedom to roam the house if the training was successful.

Although Mercy had been avoiding the reason why she had invited Sam over to talk, she knew that they only had twenty minutes left and she was going to have bring it up. She decided to say something when they had thrown the plates and plastic utensils away, put the remaining Arnold Palmer in the fridge, and placed the rinsed out casserole dish and glasses in the dishwasher.

"Sam, the reason why I wanted to have this private time with you is because I have been thinking about us and what we are doing." She began suddenly shy for the first time around him.

"And…" He prompted unsure that he wanted to hear what she was going to say.

"You know that I want a relationship and I thought that an affair with you would get in the way of my husband hunting." She watched as Sam nodded his head."The thing is that even though we are dating to save my reputation in the eyes of the good citizens of Lima, being with you platonically is still interfering with my plans to get married."

Sam could feel his heart drop to his feet. She was going to break up with him. He couldn't take this rejection now not when in the back of his mind, he knew that she was the woman for him and him alone. "Mercy, please, I promise you that if you find somebody who could give you everything that you desired that I would try to back off. I just like you a lot and I don't see why…"

"Sam Evans, shut the hell up! Excuse me for my language." She apologized after exploding. "I am not trying to stop seeing you. I am just trying to tell you that I am willing to explore the relationship we are now building."

"By explore does that mean you want to commit to me and me commit to you meaning we only see each other and possibly get naked with each other." Sam said trying to understand what Mercy was trying to tell him.

"Yes, I am willing to be in adult relationship with you, and if that ever involves seeing each other naked, then I am trying to tell you that I am fine with that."

"I guess you should know that I am healthy sexually. I haven't been with anyone since my wife, and I am tested annually when I have my check-up."

"Sam, you probably have guessed that I don't have much of a sexual history, but I am clean, too. This is an awkward conversation." Mercy said as she realized they really were going to do this.

"Not really awkward but necessary, now awkward would be me telling you that I am into having kinky sex."

"Are you into having kinky sex?" Mercy asked not thinking he was the BDSM type.

"Nothing too kinky…" He said with a smirk before she interrupted.

"And what do you considerer too kinky?" She stuttered out hoping he was just kidding.

"No chains and whips or any sh.. any stuff like that. Don't worry I will show you. And I promise not to try to get you pregnant by always wearing protection, so it will be safe and consensual sex."

"I thought you were not ready for children or not sure if you wanted them." Mercy said trying to digest everything Sam was saying to her.

"Rubbers break. They are only 99% effective. You could become pregnant if you are having sex there is always a possibility unless you have had a surgery to prevent it."

"Well, Sam Evans, I will never sleep with you unless you make a promise to me that you would marry me if you get me pregnant."

"I would marry you right now." Sam admitted shocked that he was being so bold and not afraid of her distancing herself from him.

"So, if I was to tell you that I am ready to have sex, then, you are telling me that if I accidentally became pregnant you would be alright by this, and you want to marry me even if I am not pregnant. Am I hearing you correctly?"

"Yes, yes, and hell yes. I am a goner when it comes to you, and I thought you knew this. Your Aunt Jo surely knows if nobody else does."

"How was I supposed to know. You are my first real relationship. All I have are TV, books, and movies to go by."

"Every relationship is different because people are different, so there is no ultimate guide to how a relationship is supposed to go. We can only go by what feels right to us. Plus, we are older and not into games, and we are honest with each other, also, we communicate well and we both are sexually interested in each other. Our relationship is between the two of us and the two of us alone. Whatever we are comfortable with is what we go by. You have no problem telling me things, and as you know I honor whatever you say and won't try to pressure you to do anything you are not ready to do."

"I will still want to wait a little while before we even think of marrying each other. These last two days have been okay with you sleeping at my house. But, I don't think we are ready for that type of commitment."

"I know it is much too soon, but I am falling fast and hard for you Mercy Jones." When he first felt that something wasn't adding up about the interests that people were having in her, Sam knew then he was on a downward spiral and now that she was willing to explore a sexual relationship with him, he didn't see why he shouldn't lay it all on the line with her.

"I may be naive, but even I know that we are going a little too fast, but I don't mind it if you don't." Mercy said as she felt desperate to feel his lips on hers again, and she went to him and sat on his lap and initiated a kiss. She missed his lips and the way that his lips made her feel.

Sam thought his sleep deprivation was causing him to have a lucid dream while being awake. But when Mercy entwined her arms around his neck and put her little tongue in his mouth, he broke out the trance and began to kiss her with his mouth demanding more from her.

When Sam took over the kiss, Mercy could feel her body began the melting it always did. He felt so good to her, and her body throbbed with a new level of heat that only amplified as he tightened his arms around her which caused her to be pressed against his chest. She moaned and luxuriated in the feeling of being wanted and wanting someone else in return. She knew what they were doing was right, but the timing and the place was all so wrong. And she gathered the willpower that she needed to let Sam know.

"You are a tease you know." Sam said as he regretfully let her go. "But now that we are serious. I need you to take me serious and trust my gut instincts when I tell you these things." Sam told her as he filled Mercy in on his suspicion concerning the mayor. "Now remember that you are not to tell anyone that you have moved or give your address out to anyone. Make sure your mom, sister, and aunt keep it a secret as well."

"So you think I may be in danger."

"I just got a feeling in my gut that tells me that something rotten is going on. Don't confront or talk to Clarington at all. Nobody other than the people who already know are to know where you live."

"This sounds all good in theory, but what is going to stop someone from following me home from work."

"I am going to take care of that. I will be driving you home in your car from now on, and no one will be able to follow us. I know some round about ways to getting around town. A friend of mine will be driving his car over to your house and catching a ride back with someone else. I am using his car instead of mine, so nobody will know whose car is parked outside your home. We will do this until we find out what is going on."

For the first time, Mercy felt a twinge of fear run up her spine as she saw the concern that Sam had for her in his green eyes, and she realized all he had been doing to make sure she was safe and would be safe. She would be hyper aware and look for new faces that would enter the library and stay behind the circulation desk and in her office as much as possible. She drove herself back to the library not thinking about how her relationship with Sam was going, but thinking about what she had truly gotten herself involved in which would cause somebody to be looking for her.

* * *

 **A/N: Because I am all over the place in this story, I do leave out finer details and things that are discussed at length in the book. To answer Who's question about how did Sam figure out the guys were law enforcement, it was when Will looked at his badge and new he was outside of jurisdiction something that most civilians don't know; they slow down for out of town police cars when they speed. I don't because unless they are making a citizen's arrest, they have no jurisidiction. (I am a former cop's kid.) Also, the fact that Will thought something happened to Mercy. The fact that they were pretending to be gay, and Will's overreaction and the word case put the pieces together for Sam who knew that these men were law enforcement. He doesn't know what branch though until Will said they were federal.**

 **I read reviews and it breaks my hard when I goof up and don't put trigger warnings. So, if you read something triggering let me know, because I am not good in putting trigger warnings up, also if you read something that takes you to an unhappy place do like monni did and please stop reading that part. I have a line indicating chapter breaks so you can skip it without a problem. This whole work is kinda of disturbing, it deals with things I am dealing with with co-workers and family like miscarriage, infertility, fibroids, death, and a lot things that are depressing. So, whenever you encounter the dark side, please stop reading. I won't you to still be able to sleep after reading these super chapters.**

 **I do have sad/good news. We are officially over 3/4ths finished with this story. So only less than a quarter remains. I am combining chapters instead of posting two a day. So this is really chapters 16 and 17. So, there are less than five chapters left including an epilogue. The last update is projected to be on the 26th, but I may be finished before then...Thanks for reading and reviewing and favoriting and following...I own nothing but the mistakes that I made and still find after I reread the story three times. It's hard out here for a Beta-less, editor-less writer LOL Much love and peace...**


	18. Chapters 18&19

**Triggers: Mentions of abuse during coerced sex but nothing graphic is described and a description of a decaying corpse. The story is Rated T, so no explicit details will be given.**

Chapters 18/19

It wasn't until Wednesday afternoon that Brody went to the address that Clarington had finally given him as soon as the mayor had seen the morning news. As far as he could tell, there were only two older black women who lived there, and they would come and go at random times. Because it was a family type of neighborhood, Brody knew he would look suspicious, if he constantly watched their front porch. So, he came back to the neighborhood at dusk and watched when Ms. Jones would be off of work. However, the lady who had been dressed in red at the club never appeared. Brody even double checked her address by using Google. This place was listed as her residence, but she was not seen entering or leaving. Maybe she was on vacation; it was summer and all, or she could be on a business trip.

Brody was relieved with the thought that she may even be out the state or country, but he was worried because the body had turned up in the woods discovered by a hunter whose dog had a keen sense of smell which had caused the dog to dig up the shallow grave, and the hunter had called the police as soon as he saw the body a feast for maggots which had accelerated the putrefaction process along with the heat.

The idiots hadn't even wrapped the body, only put a plastic tarp from the truck over it before burying it. They were too stupid to know that they needed to pour bleach and or ammonia on the corpse to kill the smell of Puck's last bowel movement and the stench of old blood as well as discourage maggots. He would have used acid on Puckerman's face as well to prevent the body from being readily identified, but he had stayed at the club waiting on the pocket size Venus to reappear.

Now with Puckerman's face gracing the television news and newspapers, the lady might remember him and might remember what she had inadvertently seen on that Saturday night. The knowledge of this had melted the ice glacier that Brody referred to Clarington as being because as soon as Puckerman's identity was released along with his face and a reward for any information concerning the case, Clarington had called him and told him the name and address of one Mercy Jones. He was very upset, and his being upset had upset Brody. Because Clarington was so shook up, he hadn't yet called him to tell him that the Jones lady had never shown up. He felt like this loose end would send Hunter over the edge.

He needed to quickly find her and have her terminated before the new shipment from Russia came in, and he wouldn't have time to devote to both of them. There were to be 15 girls in this latest shipment which each girl being a looker who thought they were coming to America to meet their husbands. They all had answered ads to be mail ordered brides and were to fly in and be met by their handler at their airport who was going to be posing as their shuttle driver.

After watching the house for another hour, Brody left because he didn't want to seem suspicious. It was nine o'clock in Lima and hardly anyone was out on the roads. Most of the lights in the people's home were going out, so Brody returned to the address to stake it out looking for the woman or the Explorer, but neither showed up. Finally after ten o'clock, he realized she may have gone to the club and hooked up with the man he had last seen her talking to. She might be even living with the man and still used her family's address. He decided he would go to the club the rest of the week and wait on her return to the Yucatan Club the place where it all started would be a fitting place to end it.

And if she actually lived in Allen County, then surely Clarington could tell him where she worked. She might work in the mayor's idyllic town of Lima, since she lived there, and this made perfect sense and explained why Hunter was all of a sudden so antsy. Brody would find her. He had a funny feeling in his gut telling him that Clarington knew her, and for all he knew may had been her lover at one point. She was hot but classy, and he could see Clarington wanting to tap that ass. He didn't care what feelings the good old mayor might have for this Jones woman. Business was business and if she wasn't at the club, he was going to show up at her job everyday until he finally tied up this loose end.

* * *

"Mike, you are a lifesaver. I don't know what I would do without you buddy." Sam said as he called his friend and thanked him and his wife Tina for bringing the car to Daisy's. Tina had driven Mike to Sam's house to get the car and followed him to Mercy's house before taking herself and Mike home. Mike and Tina Chang were the only couple that he had spent time with in Lima. They had been close friends with Artie in New York where both couples worked on Broadway until their family began to expand, and they decided to move back home to Lima to raise their children in a safer, friendlier environment that enabled the grandparents to have closer relationships with their grandchildren.

Tina was a teacher at the local high school and was the choir director, while Mike opened up his own gym and dance studio. Artie made sure that Sam met the Changs, and Sam was glad to have some friends in the tiny town which kept him from feeling so isolated once he had moved. He often worked out with Mike in his gym, and the two would chew the fat. Mike often invited him over to dinner, and he only accepted occasionally because Tina through Artie would constantly try to set him up. Now that it was summer and school was out, the couple were available to help Sam out with all his transportation needs.

Sam quickly ended his call before Mike and Tina could question him about his relationship with Mercy. Then, he asked Mercy if she minded if he turned the news on. They had gotten back at her place at half past five because of the roundabout route he had taken. They had decided to order a pizza and Netflix and half chill. He had explained what Netflix and chill meant when he gave Mercy his overview of online dating. She would have no idea what Netflix and chill meant, and at the time he could see her been taken advantage of because of her lack of knowledge.

Mercy was a person who believed in showering right after work when it was close to a hundred degrees outside. She also had begun to take earlier showers, because she never knew what time she would go to bed with Simba now being a huge responsibility. Simba also tired her out after a long days of work, and when it was finally time to go to bed, all she had do was brush her teeth and hit the sack.

While Mercy was in the shower, he began to watch the news with a civilized Simba who was curled up at his feet dozing off. When Mercedes came back into the room, her eyes were drawn to the television screen. The news reporter was talking about the unsolved murder of a local Lima man found in a field by a hunter and his dog. When the picture was shown of the man, Mercy couldn't stop the gasp that came out of mouth.

"What's the matter, honey?" Sam had asked looking at her face in concern.

"That man, I recognize his face." She said trying to rack her brain to remember where she had seen him last.

"Did you go to school with him or was he a patron of the library?"

"Neither, I think I saw him, no, I know I saw him at the Yucatan Club. He was the man who offered to buy me a drink that first night before the fights broke out."

"Was that the last time you saw him?"

"No, I am trying to remember if I saw him again. I think I did."

"Why are you not sure? Surely, you would remember if you saw him again."

"I am not 100% sure, but I am 98% sure that I may very well have seen him in the parking lot of the club with three other men on Saturday night. I remember dawdling in my car and seeing three men come out of the club. He was in the middle of them. They took him to a third guy who had gotten out of a car, and that guy joined them. I could see them through the headlights of another car, and then that guy what did they say his name was again?"

"Noah Puckerman."

"Well, Noah Puckerman must have been drugged with GHB or passed out drunk because he went out like a light and the two men who walked with him outside the club had to throw him into the back of the pickup truck that they had been walking towards, and they drove off and the other man went to his car and got inside as if he was leaving. Then, I got out of my car and headed into the club."

"Oh, hell, Mercy, I think you may have witnessed…"

"No, don't tell me that I was probably the last person to see him alive."

"Other than his killers, I think you were. I fully believe that you witnessed him being murdered."

"Did they use a gun with a silencer? Because surely I would have a heard a shot or something?"

"The news report said he was stabbed."

Mercy almost sank to the floor with the news. She had to order the pizza using a fake name and now it seems that she had witnessed a murder, and she knew without a doubt that her life would never be the same. She busied herself with getting the pizza arranged on plates while Sam had excused himself to use what appeared to be a secured satellite phone.

When he returned to her kitchen, he informed her that he had some people checking into it. Sam added with a tone filled with regret when he suddenly realized why the mayor had her tag ran, "the third person must have seen you go into the club, and he must have copied down your tag number and called the mayor to have him run the tag to see who it was registered to."

"Why don't you just call the mayor and ask him who gave him my tag number?"

"I can't do that Mercy, because the mayor lied about why he asked for registration information remember the Dr. Howell excuse he used. So, that probably means he is somehow connected to either the murder or the murderers."

"Then what am I going to do Sam? The mayor will be able to find me if he really wants to."

"Well, right now we don't have a problem. You are pretty well hidden in plain sight. But you have got to call your mother and aunt and tell them to come here and to make sure that they are not followed by anyone. Tell them to go to the grocery store first and stay for awhile. That should make anybody following them think they are going to come back home because who goes visiting with milk in the car in this heat?"

"Sam, you know you are talking about my mother, she wouldn't know how to lose a car that was tailing her."

"That's why she is to go to the grocery store. A friend of mine will be parked at the back of Walmart, and she and your aunt will be brought here by him. They are to ask who sent him, and he will tell them, Artie and they will know he's okay."

Mercy called her Aunt Jo and told her the gist of everything, and Aunt Jo agreed to not tell her mother all the facts but to meet Sam's friend and to ask who sent him with the code answer being Artie. Mercy couldn't stopped pacing after she and Sam had both made their calls.

"I am going to have to go the police station and give a statement." She said trying to figure out how her life had become a living nightmare.

"Yes, but not at the station. A detective will come by and question you. It is best if we go ahead and get your statements and your identification as quickly as we can. We think this guy wants you silenced before this can happen. We will be one step ahead of him in this regard."

"But I still won't be safe after my statement, will I? I still have to testify in court, and I won't be able to do that if he and/or his cronies get to me first."

"Trust me when I say this that I will do everything in my power to make sure that you will be alive and well to testify. I promise."

* * *

Weston couldn't wait until later. He had left the Jones' house on Wednesday night and had not seen the Explorer. When he came back to the house after leaving the club empty-handed, he knew he had to call Hunter Clarington bright and early, so he could get the location of where Mercy Jones worked. He wanted to either cause an accident on her way to work or from work or follow her when she left her job. Either way, he was a patient man and could wait her out.

Hunter couldn't imagine who could be calling him so early on a Thursday morning. He was barely conscious when he answered the phone. "Hello."

"This is me." Brody simply said.

"Weston, why are you calling me before dawn while I am at home?"

"I am calling because that Jones lady never shows up at the address you gave me. Are you sure that she lives there?"

"I am more than sure. She has lived in that house her entire life. I am positive."

Brody knew without a doubt that Hunter knew this woman personally. His instincts hadn't failed him on that account. "Well, if she lives there, she sure didn't spend the night there. I think she stayed with her boyfriend."

"Mercy Jones does not have a boyfriend."

"How in the hell do you know? She has been partying at the Yucatan Club, and she isn't some nun or something or is she?"

"I wouldn't know, but I guess if she has changed her looks, she may have changed her activities as well. What do we do now?"

"The only good news is that it seems that she may have not seen anything, or she may be clueless and not even know that Puckerman is even dead."

"If that is the case, then we should just leave her alone."

"Hell no," Weston wasn't going to do this. "She is loose end that could unravel at any moment; more like a ticking bomb. The Russian shipment will be here soon, do you want everything going to hell and a handbasket when we are on the precipice of making millions off this one deal alone? You know how Remington is. He will probably arrange for our accidental deaths if this deal is blown."

"Hell, I really don't want her hurt, but if the option is me or her I guess it has to be her. If that Russian shipment comes to harm Remington might lose his mind and take us out. I know he has sold each girl for about a half million. That is too much money on the line to lose."

"Just tell me where she works and don't think about this any more. I will get her this morning if not then then I will get her this afternoon when she leaves work."

"She works at the damn library."

"That Nubian queen is a librarian?"

"She is in charge of the library as well. She works at the Lima Public LIbrary which is next door to me in city hall. The library opens at nine and she works there alone until lunch. You can't go inside because too many people will notice you. The police department is on the other side of city hall, and Chief Evans runs a tight force."

"I will follow her when she leaves for lunch or leave to go home this afternoon. But don't think about it anymore, she will be taken care of today."

Brittany had her camera on her cell phone recording the entire conversation. Whenever Hunter got a call on that particular phone, she knew he was up to no good. She only pretended to be drunk most of the time now biding the time that she could escape the disaster her life had become. She didn't even know why Hunter insisted they a share a bedroom for the kids' sake. He hadn't touched her in years, and she thought the kids were old enough to understand that mommy and daddy didn't share a bed.

In the past, she had to make herself drunk to be able to share a home nevertheless a bed with him. She had begun recording him on his secret little phone for years. It was a sick need that she had to reaffirm that he was the devil incarnate, and the proof she hopefully could use to escape the madness with her children. She had heard him make arrangements with different women and men to relieve his sexual needs. And every time she heard him do this a piece of her died.

When they were first married, she didn't care because she was drinking heavily to dull her pain and using other men and women to satisfy her needs. She only wanted to be loved that's all, and she cheated on him because she soon realized he was a cold-hearted criminal unable to love anyone but himself. He claimed to love their kids, but how could he pimp their mother out if he loved them so much.

The reason she had finally had enough and had been scared sober was Rod Remington. Since her husband coerced her into sleeping with him, she had begun to hate her husband with a vehemence that was startling. He had to know what Rod Remington was like, yet he still sent her to him to be used and abused by him. In Remington's bedroom, she often yelled, begged, and cried out for someone to save her from the pain that he inflicted on her. She would often pray that she would die and escape the torture, but no matter what she said, Remington would not kill her.

So, she decided to be an embarrassment of a wife hoping that Hunter would divorce her, but nothing she did would make him do this. She was frustrated and tried to anger him, so that he would kill her, but he wouldn't. She was more valuable to him alive than dead. She was the only thing that he had that he could assert power over Remington. Whenever he messed up or wanted something from Remington, she was the pawn her husband used.

Hunter also used her own children against her. Chris and Christy were all she had, and she loved them with such a passion even though they barely tolerated the alcoholic she had become. He also told her he had videos of her sleeping with everyone he pimped her out to, and he would show the children these videos if she ever stepped out of line. She was under his control with no viable way out unless she had proof.

She knew Hunter had not realized that she had stopped drinking since she was last forced to have sex with Remington. She hadn't even had sex with anyone else. Sex no longer gave her pleasure, and the whole focus of her being was getting out of this marriage alive and with her kids. With this latest conversation, she think she may be able to do it. She had heard him mention Russian shipment and girls, and them being sold for a half million and that Remington was involved. This is the most she had ever gotten on him about his business ties with Remington. She knew that if Remington was involved that the whole situation was going to be nasty.

And the thing that made Brittany the most upset about the call was that he wanted Weston to take care of Mercy Jones. Mercy Jones was one of the nicest people in Lima. Whenever she brought the kids to the library, Mercy would always be nice to her and smile at her. She never avoided her or talked about her like the rest of the people in Lima did. She liked Mercy Jones, and if her husband was ordering Weston to kill her because she was some kind of loose end, she had to do something. For the first time when Hunter was referring to Mercy, Brittany could feel some human emotion coming out of him for someone else, which didn't make sense in someone as cold-hearted as her husband. However, whatever Weston said convinced her husband that it was him or her, and her husband true to form always chose himself.

She had to send the video to someone, but to who? She thought about the local police, but she didn't know if they would take her seriously. Who would believe that the mayor had ordered a hit on the town's beloved librarian? Also, he was smuggling women out of Russia and selling them with Rod Remington. She didn't believe that they would trust her or the video maybe accuse her of doctoring it.

She knew she had to warn Mercy though. She could call the library later today as long as it was before lunch and tell her that some man named Weston was going to try to snatch her. Hell, she could even go to the library herself and warn the woman. But who should she call? Should she call the State police, the FBI, or the sheriff's department of a neighboring county that is not affiliated with her husband. Hunter did spend a huge amount of time in Findlay. So, she wouldn't go to them for help, but surely he would have at the most local ties and not state or federal ties. She had to think this through and not slip up because she would only get one chance at doing this, and she couldn't afford to mess it up.

Brittany wished she hadn't isolated herself from friends and family for so long by pretending to be the raving sexaholic and alcoholic that she wasn't. She didn't have anyone to call to for help. How did she not know that she had isolated herself? Well, she wasn't going to throw herself a pity party. She had things to do, and the most important thing right now was that she warn Mercy and help save her life. She couldn't wait until Hunter left, she was going to figure out a way to stop him and stop that monster Rod Remington once and for all.

* * *

Mercy was trying her best to be unafraid. She had spent the past night going from low to the lowest she had ever felt. She couldn't believe the danger she had put her entire family in. Last night had been fraught with tension, and she had been unable to sleep because her mind couldn't stop thinking. It all started when her mother and aunt burst into her home looking like death warmed over. She could vividly recall everything that happened.

After her mother used her key and let herself and her sister inside Mercy's house, she began her tirade. "Now, tell us what the hell is going on. Why did Jo have us get dress in these muumuu dresses that we never wear in public with a change of clothes and our toiletries in backpack underneath them? Why did we have to go to Walmart, use a secret code, and ride with a stranger here? Jo is not telling me anything. This better not be some prank for America's Funniest Home Videos." Marcia said as soon as she had seen her daughter and Sam Evans.

"I am sorry Mrs. Jones, but it is quite possible that Mercy has witnessed a murder and somebody is looking to silence her." Sam said in calm words to try to prevent hysteria.

"Oh my Lord,Jesus," Marcia said and sank into the nearest chair because her legs gave out on her.

"The body was discovered in Hancock County, so I am having a detective from their force come here in an unmarked car to question her and get her statement. Why we wanted the both of you here is because someone ran her tag number and is trying to find her. Unfortunately, your address is still tied to her registration, so all three of you may be in danger. I may be overreacting, but I would rather err in being overly cautious than in not being cautious enough. We must keep Mercy's location hidden from everyone."

"Listen here Sam Evans. Mercy is my daughter, and you are not being overly cautious. Promise me that you will do everything to keep her safe."

"Marcia that man is so sprung, he will be like Bruno Mars catching a grenade for her. Calm down the eff down. He knows if he lets anything happen to her, that I will personally make his life a living hell and make him wish to die but I wouldn't let him. So, I am sure he is developing a plan that will keep her safe." Jo said to her sister.

"Okay Aunt Jo, that's enough." Mercy finally was able to say something but Sam continued telling them how it was important that nobody in their family answered any questions concerning Mercy, and they were explicitly told not to talk to the mayor because he could very well be involved.

"That kiss ass Hunter Clarington." Her aunt said looking on with disgust.

"Yes, he is the one who had be trace Mercy's tag number."

"Just let me at that sissy boy, I will have him in so much pain that he would spill all the details and this can be over in minutes." Aunt Jo said looking like a good breeze could knock her over.'

"Aunt Jo you are a hundred and twenty pounds, soaking wet and 64 years old. Please stop, I am worried enough now that I realize that the person who is looking for me has probably already seen and identified you. He knows where you live, and he could have broken into the house and set up a wiretap for all we know. And what about Jane and Anthony and the boys. How are you going to protect all of them as well as me until a court case is called and I am to able to testify?"

Sam listened to Mercy and really thought hard about her questions unable to answer them. Of course the men could use her family to keep Mercy from testifying or draw her out of hiding. "We can't think about all that could go wrong. All we can do is take it day by day. We have to get your statement and see if you can identify the three men first. Then, we'll have to take everything day by day from there."

"I don't care about freaking statement or identification, if you can't promise me right now that you will have my family protected. I don't even want them in Lima or Ohio. I want them gone."

"There is no way I am leaving you, Mercy, not will this insanity going on!" Marcia screamed at her daughter.

"Mom, I couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to you because of me. Please, for my peace of mind, don't fight me on this."

"Marcia, I know how much you want to stay and fight and protect your child, but surely, you can see that it will be easier for Sam and the police to guard one person and not two or three. Because if you stay, Anthony being a man will want to stay as well and then this will spiral out of control."

"I am sorry to tell you this, but they are right Mrs. Jones. I can assign a couple of officers to guard you both until you leave, and I can have some officers in Columbus guard Jane's family while you all go to your homes and pack your belongings for your trip. The location that you are all going to must be kept secret even from us. If you have social media, just post about how excited you are that your family won a family vacation to Disneyland or something. You can also tell your neighbors to get your mail and other things that you all normally do when you travel. Mike is going to take you back to Walmart and you will go back to your home with a ton of things you will need for your vacation. Act normally, there will be unmarked police cars and you will allow two officers to come through your back door that will stay with you." Sam said as he called in reinforcements and made sure everything was put in place for this plan to succeed.

After Sam finished all his calls, her mother spoke up again. "Sam Evans, I have been nothing but nice to you to prove to you that I will be the best mother-in-law ever; however, I promise you that when I return if anything is broken on my daughter, her body, her heart, or her spirit, I will make sure that rue the day that you were born because I am going to be the enemy of your worst nightmare."

"I understand, ma'am." Sam said with much respect for the older woman. He could tell his Mercy came from the very best type of a family.

"My mom just threatened you the chief of police and alluded to being your mother-in-law. I must be hallucinating."

"We will talk about that later," Sam said making sure Mike was ready to take the ladies back to Walmart.

After that her mother and aunt were rushed out of the house. Sam got the call that his officers would escort the two ladies to Jane's house in Columbus. They were going to take a flight from the airport there. He informed Mercy as he went about making all the calls that he needed to make.

"You need to have your mother call Marley and say that you won't be coming into work tomorrow because of an emergency oral surgery. Tell her that you have to have a root canal and will be out until Monday. Your mom has to call because you are unable to talk. I know you can't just drop everything and go on a family vacation with your family, so we need another excuse for you not being there."

"Okay, Sam." Mercy said before picking up Simba and taking him to her room to cuddle while she made her calls and prayed for a God intervention that he would make sure her family would be alright.

Sam came back into her bedroom and notified that it was too late for the detectives to come with sketch artists. That he was going to have to drive her to Findlay the next day, so she could give her statement and hopefully identify the three men that she had seen. An hour after this, he told her that her mom and sister had made it safely to Columbus, and that all of them were headed to the airport in a couple of hours. Even with all these updates, sleep just wouldn't come to Mercy no matter how hard she tried.

* * *

Hunter moped around eating breakfast. Brittany had heard him showering earlier, and she thought he would be long gone by now. But nope, he was still in the house instead of being on his way to work at eight forty-five.

Brittany hardly ate anything now. When she was drinking, it was if food would sour in her stomach. Her body had grown accustomed to going without a lot of food. She normally just had Irish coffees when she was drinking, but now she just sticked to plain coffee while she longed for the whiskey that she used to put in it. She got the shakes from just thinking of her alcohol withdrawal and urge to start back drinking again.

Hunter was busy ignoring her as he ate his breakfast. He never paid her any attention. They lived completely separate lives. They were events she was supposed to attend as the mayor's wife, but he stopped telling her. He would leave the house, and she would never know when he would be back. He would talk to her to tell her when he needed her to service men. The only thing he took the time to discuss with her was the kids. If he thought she needed to take them shopping or if Chris hair was getting too long, and he needed to go to the hair salon for a trim. Her kids were eating their breakfast as usual and were on their devices, and she wondered if she had completely lost her babies.

She could remember how much they had loved her and thought she hung the moon. That was before Rod Remington and his sadistic sexual practices and her drinking to mask the pain and hurt. Sure she drank before to forget how awful her marriage was to Hunter, but the public drunkenness and her embarrassing actions to propel Hunter to divorce her, all came after he gave her over to Rod Remington to have his sick and perverted way with her. She knew her actions had caused the loves of her life to be ashamed her. She only wish that she had been smarter and left with the kids years ago. She had made a mistake and fell in love with the idea of Hunter Clarington. When the man she loved proved he didn't love her in return and would never love her, she made the mistake of staying with him.

After the kids had finished their breakfasts, she left the table and headed to her bedroom. She was surprised to find Hunter still there and in the bedroom after nine. What reason did he have for staying home so long? Before she could ask him, his phone rang and he got it and went downstairs to his office talking. Brittany got her phone and went outside his office door and began to record his phone call.

She heard him mention Remington by name, but she could barely hear what he was saying, so she decided to pretend that she was inebriated and go into office stumbling with her phone in her pocket. When she entered the room, Hunter looked at her as if she had lost her mind. She bumped into him causing him to drop the phone. "Shorry." She said slurring the word on purpose.

"Your clumsy drunk whore." Hunter said before picking up the phone and apologizing to Remington.

"That must be your charming wife." Remington asked.

"Yes, that was her. She is such a stupid little cunt."

"Ah, you didn't marry her for her brains though but what that cunt of hers could do."

"Yeah, I know I didn't marry her for her intellect because if I did I would be out of luck." Brittany couldn't believe that Hunter would talk about her to that man while she in the room no matter how drunk she appeared.

"Well, I am beginning to think her thinking ability is contagious because you are in the habit of making mistakes yourself now."

"I am sorry I trusted Weston to handle all of those situations. He knows what is on the line now. He will handle everything."

"I didn't get as far as I have gotten in this business by believing anything unless I first see it. The Russian girls will be here tomorrow, and I want Weston fully involved with making sure nothing goes wrong on that end. If he doesn't make sure that little librarian is taken care of, I will be very unhappy with him and with you."

"He'll have that issue taken care of today when she leaves the library. He is going to make sure that she simply disappears. When Weston handles something personally, there are never any mistakes."

"If that is true, then how come Puckerman's body was found so quickly?"

"Because Weston didn't handle that, he stayed behind to figure out who had seen them in the parking lot. It was the other two who botched the job."

"That still was a mistake on Weston's part."

"I am well aware of this and he has been suitably warned."

"This is his and your last chance even fucking your wife and making sure she bleeds will save your ass if he doesn't take care of the librarian and is not there on tomorrow to handle the Russian shipment."

Hunter was so mad at how everything was going. That he couldn't help himself from taking it out on his wife as soon as ended the call and noticed that she was still on the floor where she had crashed into him making him drop his phone. He couldn't stop himself from kicking her in the stomach calling her a drunken bitch who was the cause of his all his problems. When she fell to over cradling her stomach and began to cry out in pain, he stopped because he didn't want the kids to hear her.

Hunter disgusted with the whole situation got his car keys and took off in a hurry. Brittany as soon as she got her wind back, stumbled upstairs and showered and changed clothes. After being Remington's whipping girl, the one thing she was used to was excrutiating pain. The first thing she did when she got herself together was call the public library.

"Lima Public Library, this is Marley how may I help you?"

"I need to speak to Mercy Jones; it's an emergency, tell her that it's Brittany Clarington calling."

"I am so sorry but Mercy is not here today, but I can help you if you will tell me what you need."

Dear God what did she do now? "Is there a way I can reach her at home?"

"I don't think so, her mother said she had to have an emergency root canal done today. She may be still at the dentist."

"Do you know which dentist she uses?" Brittany thought she could tell Mercy, and Mercy could run down to the police station and stay there and be safe. Oh she so needed a drink right now. No, she couldn't drink. Mercy's life was on the line.

"No, I don't know which one she uses."

"I have got to find her. Her life is in danger. Someone is going to make sure she disappears today, if I can't get in touch with her."

"What, are you drunk Mrs. Clarington, should I call the hospital?"

"No, you should call the police if you value Mercy Jones' life. I heard my husband on the phone talking to someone named Weston. He is going to have Weston kill her, unless I can warn her first." Brittany said hanging up and using her cell phone to look up dentists in Lima. She would call every office if she had to; there was no way that she was going to give up. Mercy Jones would not die today.

* * *

 **A/N: Well, I know you thought I was going to throw Brittany under the bus, but since I killed her off in the last story, I decided to make her an unofficial heroine in this one. Most of this chapter comes straight from the book; it is a mishmash of two chapters, so please let me know if something is confusing. Thanks again for coming along on this ride. We are reaching the end of the road, and the good stuff is about to all go down. Remember to excuse my errors.**


	19. Chapters 20&21

**Warning: Chapter 21 will be Rated R not Rated X, so it is only suitable for readers 17 and older. Heads up I had to make a brief change to Chapter 19 that I will include her, so no one is confused, if you read the update after 6/18/17, you may be able to skip the beginning without missing out on an important sentence I left out when I initially posted it….**

 **Previously on** _ **Chasing Game**_

 **"Lima Public Library, this is Marley how may I help you?"**

 **"I need to speak to Mercy Jones; it's an emergency, tell her that it's Brittany Clarington calling."**

 **"I am so sorry but Mercy is not here today, but I can help you if you will tell me what you need."**

 **Dear God what did she do now? "Is there a way I can reach her at home?"**

 **"I don't think so, her mother said she had to have an emergency root canal done today. She may be still at the dentist."**

 **"Do you know which dentist she uses?" Brittany thought she could tell Mercy, and Mercy could run down to the police station and stay there and be safe. Oh, she so needed a drink right now. No, she couldn't drink. Mercy's life was on the line.**

 **"No, I don't know which one she uses."**

 **"I have got to find her. Her life is in danger. Someone is going to make sure she disappears today, if I can't get in touch with her."**

 **"What, are you drunk Mrs. Clarington, should I call the hospital?"**

 **"No, you should call the police if you value Mercy Jones' life. I heard my husband on the phone talking to someone named Weston. He is going to have Weston kill her, unless I can warn her first." Brittany said hanging up and using her cell phone data to look up dentists in Lima. She would call every office if she had to; there was no way that she was going to give up. Mercy Jones would not die today.**

Chapters 20/21

"You know that dogs are not allowed in police departments unless they are service animals." Sam told Mercy for the fifth time during their ride to Findlay. Mike and Tina had volunteered to keep Simba, but Mercy was holding onto to the little pup like he was a security blanket.

"If they want my statement, then they will allow him into the police station. I was not leaving him in Lima, he is just getting over his separation anxiety, and I am not leaving him in a hot vehicle even with the windows slightly rolled down. If he can't go in, then you will leave the A/C on, and we will both stay in car and be interviewed right there in the parking lot."

Sam finally gave up. He realized there was no way that he could change her mind on this matter. They had this argument around five thirty this morning, when he realized that neither one of them were getting any sleep, and they might as well prepare for the trip to Findlay. Mercy had made him pack the dog food, water bottles, and his bowls. She had his leash attached to his collar, a blanket to put on the backseat with a training pad on top in case he had an accident, and she had included his rubber chew toys along with Sam's socks to entertain him in his doggy carrier.

"Everytime I closed my eyes last night, I thought about the night that I saw Noah Puckerman possibly murdered. I see the neon sign of the bar providing the light that lit up all three of their faces. The two men were huge in comparison to Puckerman. Then when the car headlights caught them in its glare, I could see all four faces because they stared at the car. The third man was smaller than all of them. I didn't recognize any of them, but I will be able to describe them."

"Stop stressing. I know that it's easier said than done. You will be fine. You are one the most observant people I know, and I know that everything will work out." Sam said as he took her hand. He should have known that her obsession with Simba was masking what was truly going on. She had bags underneath red tinged eyes. He knew what witnessing someone's death could do to a person. He refused to let her experience it alone. She could yell at him, be illogical, and demanding, and he would be there for her.

As soon as they got to the sheriff's department which was conveniently located next to a Krispy Kreme with the hot sign lit up, Mercy joked about it's closeness to the sheriff's office, and told Sam to get them some donut holes while she took Simba on the grass, so he could potty and then drink some water. While Sam was gone, Simba obediently squatted and took care his business, and Mercy praised him saying, "good boy, mommy has a real good boy," as he pranced around excited to be praised and hearing his owner's voice at a pleasant level not filled with stress and worry.

When Sam came back with the donut holes and coffees, she spread the blanket in the area that Simba had not done his business and they had a breakfast picnic while Simba hopefully expended all of his exuberant energy before they entered the sheriff's department.

As soon as they entered the door, a female deputy informed them that they couldn't take the dog inside. Mercy didn't argue; she simply turned around and went back outside the building with Simba. Sam stayed inside just a fraction longer to tell the deputy to notify Detective Smythe that Chief Evans was here with the witness before falling Mercy and Simba outside.

Even though it was morning, the rising sun was speedily causing the temperature to rise because it was very humid. Mercy shielded her face from the sun but didn't speak as she waited until Detective Smythe came outside. "According to Deputy Zizes, you two brought a dog with you," he said as he looked around and then noticed the ball of fluff. "I wouldn't classify that as a dog but more like a furball. " He said breaking out into a grin at the dog who preened at the attention.

"Sorry about that. I am Lima's Chief of Police, Sam Evans, and this is Mercy Jones. She is the witness that I was telling you about. Unfortunately, she only goes where the furball goes."

Detective Smythe shook Jack's hand and looked at Mercy and the puppy before excusing himself. He came back five minutes later with permission for all three to enter the building. He led them to his office much to Deputy Zizes' chagrin. Mercy sat down with Simba jumping into her lap, and she sat there obediently during the interview as Mercy stroked his fur. She answered all of the detective's questions and she gave him a description of what he had been wearing that night from head to toe. When Sam was allowed to see the crime scene photos, the descriptions matched exactly what Mercy had describes a western light blue and white plaid shirt, blue jeans, and boots.

Because the outfit matched Mercy's description exactly, both Sam and the detective believed that Puckerman hadn't changed his clothes because he had probably been killed in the Yucatan Club parking lot. While Mercy began to read over her statement to make sure she hadn't left anything out, Sam's phone began to ring. He stepped outside and answered.

"Chief, this is Matt calling." Matt Rutherford was the first-shift desk sergeant. He was usually a competent and civil man. The desk sergeant had to be a people person and able to put people at ease while dealing with stressful situations. "Marley Rose just called from the library, and she told me that Brittany Clarington had called there to speak to Miss Mercy Jones. When Miss Rose told her that Miss Jones was not there, she said that Mrs. Clarington became hysterical telling her that Miss Jones' life was in danger. Miss Rose is convinced that Mrs. Clarington believes that her husband is going to have someone named Weston try to kill Mercy Jones today. Since you had us do protective detail around Miss Jones' mother and aunt last night, I thought I should let you know what was happening."

"You did the right thing, Matt. It looks like the mayor is somehow entangled in all of this, and Mrs. Clarington must have overheard something. Have someone go pick her up and take her statement. Be sure to keep her there at the station in one of the interview rooms and do not let the mayor or anyone who is not an officer on duty near her."

"Do you think that her life could be in danger, too?"

"Yes," Sam said without hesitation knowing just how ruthless the mayor was now.

"You mean Mrs. Clarington is not drunk off her rocker."

"I am afraid not. Get an officer out to the Clarington's house ASAP and don't tell anyone else about this and call Marley Rose and tell her to not repeat this to anybody else as well."

"Okay, but what do you want me to do when the mayor hears all about this? No matter how we might try to hush this up, there was no telling how many people Marley Rose had already spread the story to."

"Just blow him off. You can stall him by making it sound like she is drunk, and nobody believes a word that she's said. I don't need him spooked and making a run for the border. Make sure you don't put any of this on the radio. Use the telephone only to buy us some time."

Sam ended the call and called Cooper and brought him up to speed. "With these words coming from his wife's own mouth about him having a man name Weston kill her, I think we have more than enough to get a court order to get a search warrant for his home and a hold of all of his phones."

"I will look and see if I can find any information on Weston for you." Cooper said and then agreed with Sam by telling him that 'it would be nice to handle things legally,' since Sam's illegal search of the mayor's office didn't turn up anything concrete, they were sure that his home had all the information they needed to catch the SOB.

As soon as Sam ended the call with Cooper, he went back into the room to be with Mercy. Detective Smythe made quick notes of the phone call that Sam shared with him from Rutherford, and then Smythe made the following observation. "If your mayor was involved with Noah Puckerman, then he isn't discriminating about his associates. Puckerman was pond scum. Since he was fourteen he has been arrested for possession, attempted rape, and breaking and entering. We almost got him last year on a date rape charge, but the prosecutor couldn't make the case stick, so he has never done any major time a couple of months here a half of year there.

"He was charged with possession. Possession of what exactly?" Sam asked remembering Mercy describing her first meeting with him, and the dude had went to go buy her a drink.

Smythe consulted the file in front of him. "Five counts of marijuana, a small amount of cocaine, and various amount of Rohypnol, ecstasy, and GHB.

"Apparently, he was big on possessing and using date rape drugs which match his latest charge."

"I just want to know how Mayor Clarington fits in with this. He wasn't at the club with the three men I saw with Puckerman, but he has to be connected in some way." Mercy added to the conversation. She wanted to know how her mayor could be affiliated with these thugs.

"If I was a betting man, I would wager that Weston was one of the three guys that took care of Puckerman, and Weston is tied to the mayor in some sort of shady connection that they have going on." Sam said because nothing else fit.

"Well that seems the most logical scenario to me," said Smythe as he was getting to his feet. "Miss Jones you mentioned that you saw them briefly but clearly. I know it will take a lot of time, but I would like you to look at our mugshots to see if you recognize anybody. Please take your time and do this carefully. We need a positive identification, so a defense lawyer won't be able to tear this case apart.

Simba, who had been on the best behavior of his entire life, sat there the whole time being angelically good on Mercy's lap. However as soon as saw the detective head towards the door, he tried to break free of Mercy's lap and follow him. Mercy was unable to keep him on her lap, so she let him go, and told Sam to get his his rubber ducky, so they would be able to rescue the detective's shoelaces. Simba ignored all of them and continued to try to reach the shoestrings on the detective's foot, causing the detective to laugh at the puppy's enjoyment of the new game of Catch That Shoelace.

Sam finally threw the duck towards Simba, and the puppy stopped trying to mess with the detectives shoes and went after the duck, his favorite chew toy. After chewing on the duck for a second, he spit it out and then went back after Detective Smythe's shoes.

"Please forgive Simba, he is just seven weeks old, and I couldn't bear to leave him with strangers when I haven't even had him for a week. He misses his mom, sisters, and brother. He has just gotten used to us, and I didn't want to leave him with strangers causing him further separation anxiety. I'm so very sorry." Mercy apologized to the detective while capturing Simba in her arms so the detective would be able to leave.

"No apologies necessary. Because of his playful nature, I'll bring all the mugshots we have in here for you to look at that way he won't get too excited seeing a lot of different people at once."

"I think that is the only way to keep your department's shoes from being puppified." Sam said getting the rubber ducky and tossing it again towards Simba. This time Simba's retrieve the toy and brought it back over to Sam. Sam threw the ducky a little farther, and Simba watched his black eyes bright as he ran to the toy and dragged the duck back to Sam and dropped it at his feet with his tail wagging.

"Well, look at that. He is a smart puppy. It didn't take him long to catch on to playing fetch." Smythe said. Sam nodded his head in agreement and did it again to see if it was a fluke.

When the detective came back with his arms filled with mugshots, Sam was still busy playing fetch with Simba, and because of the praise Sam gave him, the dog ignored the detective's return and kept playing while Mercy moved her chair closer to Smythe's desk, so she could easily turn the pages in the books to look at the photographs. When she saw how many pages there was in one book, she began to feel overwhelmed. There had to thousands of pictures that were taken by an untrained photographer because all of the mugshots of the men were very unattractive.

She shut her eyes and began to visualize the three men in the club's parking lot just when the headlight shined on them. She remembered one that she thought was considerably older than the other two. He appeared to be in his fifties if not early sixties. She thought because of his age that he might be the easiest to identify.

Why she was engrossed in looking at mugshots, Simba finally wore himself out and made his way to her feet and crashed from being worn out by Sam and his rubber ducky. Smythe chose this opportunity to ask them if they wanted something to drink.

Mercy nodded her head and said, "I really need something caffeinated coffee, tea, or a soda pop, please."

"Trust me when I said that I don't recommend the coffee in this place, Krispy Kreme is getting more business selling coffee to cops than donuts because of this," said Smythe.

"Okay, I trust you, if I could just get me naybe a Diet Mountain Dew something that's pretty much loaded with caffeine please and thanks."

"I'll go to the machine and get you one, and leave you to it." Smythe said. He looked to Sam as if to question him if he wanted anything, and Sam shook his head no.

Minutes passed by and then hours and Simba woke up, and Sam took him outside. When he came back, the puppy thought he was the most important person in the building with all of the preening he was doing. "You have been doing this for hours. It's time for lunch, and you need to a break."

"But, I am not hungry," she said as she continued to peruse the pages of photographs.

"I am very hungry those donut holes are long gone."

"How can that be? You ate four times as many of them as I did."

"That's exactly the reason that you need to eat now. You have to be hungry because I'm starving."

"I promise you that I will take a break in a little while. I am afraid if I stop now, then I won't be able to force myself to continue. I am in the zone." Mercy said as she never took her eyes off the photographs. It was when she turned the next page that she yelled. "I am 100% positive that that is one of the men that I saw last night. I am certain this is him." She said while keeping her finger on the photo .

Sam made sure that he briefly studied the photograph before going to get Smythe. He wanted to make sure if someone came close to him and Mercy looking like that, that he would be ready to shoot first and ask questions later.

Mercy yawned and gently rubbed her eyes; she was exhausted, and she had only identified one of the men, and she still had two to go. She figured it wouldn't be as easy to identify the other two, since she remembered the older guy first because he was the most unattractive. The other two looked like average Joes. One was extremely fat, but so were a lot of the pictures in the book. She would just have to continue to look carefully.

Smythe rushed back inside and looked at the mugshot that Mercy had pointed out. "That's Cooter Menkins, the worst example of humanity if there ever was one. We've had him on breaking and entering, assault, robbery, and vandalism of several properties belonging to minorities. He usually works with hell what's his name. Hold on while call my partner to see what was the name of the other perp. Hey Wes, do you remember the guy who works with Cooter Menkins. Yeah, the guy we got who destroyed the old lady's house over on MLK Street last year."

"Meek or something like that, they go by M&M. They are professional thugs. They say the m's stand for mighty madmen, and they are willing to do anything for pay; plus they know how to keep their mouths' shut." Smythe's partner Wes answered his question.

"Meeks that must be Roderick Meeks. A good guy that got arrested for beating up some low-life bullies who constantly picked on him because of his weight. He went to juvie and in order to be accepted got hooked up with the wrong crowd, white nationalists or whatever the new KKK and Skinheads call themselves, for protection. He doesn't have that many arrests and zero convictions. He is known as the brains behind the two, and Cooter never rats on him when he is caught." Smythe found a picture of Roderick Meeks and showed it to Mercy.

"Yes, that is him," she looked at the dark haired, rotund face man. "He looks like a choir boy and not a vicious killer."

"Are you positive?"

"I am completely sure. We still have to identify the third man, but I haven't seen him any of the photographs."

"I think it would help if we had Weston's first name. However, even though Menkins had never talked in the past, this is the first time both he and Meeks will be arrested for murder. I think Meeks will sing like a baby. They might take care of each other, but when it comes down to a deal, I am sure Meeks will rat out Weston. Until we get an ID on Weston, I am going to need to know where you'll be Miss Jones."

"I will be home…"She said before Sam could interrupt her.

"She will be in a hotel, and I am not revealing the location of the hotel to anyone, not even you Smythe. If you need her, then you are to call my satellite phone, because I will be her one and only contact with the outside world." Sam said and meant as he gathered up Simba's belongings and got ready to leave the detective's office.

* * *

"What kind of hotel are you plan on taking me to? I have a dog and most places don't take pets." Mercy said as they got in the car after putting Simba in the backseat.

"Don't remind me about the furball. I don't trust anyone with your safety but me, and I don't have time for Findlay's sheriff department to try to arrange a safe house for you leaving you open in the station that they are bringing in both Menkins and Meeks. There are some places that take pets, and I will check TripAdvisor to see which ones do, while we finally eat lunch. I am starving."

"You do know that I have no toiletries, clothes, books, or eReader with me."

"I can send someone to get these items for you."

"You can send Cooper, he knows what to get." She said after thinking about it.

"How many times do I have to tell you that Cooper is not gay."

"I don't care about him being gay, he help me buy my clothes, so he knows which things are outfits and will know to bring my makeup."

"Emma Pillsbury or Holly Holiday…"

"I don't know them and I don't want them in my house. I want Cooper, and that is final."

"I would like to know when suddenly became the one issuing orders. You better be glad I love you, so I will send Cooper."

They went to a Japanese restaurant drive thru for lunch and while they waited on their food, Sam was able to find a brand new hotel that had recently opened that had two rooms allocated for people with small pets. Sam reserved the room online using the credit card and ID he had gotten from Cooper from Mike last night. He didn't bother putting her name on the room as they were checking in a hotel without luggage, many would assume they were having an affair. They ate while Sam drove around looking for the hotel. When they finally arrived, Sam chose the room that was facing the rear of the building, and he drove Mercy and Simba around to the back of the hotel to be closer to their room once he had checked in.

He retrieved Simba's belongings from the car while Mercy helped the pooch find a place to do his business. Instead of doing so, the puppy distracted himself trying to catch a butterfly. After giving up his impossible task, the puppy went to a shaded area and did his business. He didn't put up much of a fight when she picked him up because he had worn himself out chasing the butterfly. Mercy was relieved to be in the cool air conditioned room when she realized just how hot she had been.

"Alright, Mercy. You two are all settled in. I will be back sometime tonight with your belongings. I don't know how long it's going to take, but you are not to answer the door for anyone. I have a key, so I will not need to knock. I am putting a DO NOT DISTURB sign on the door, so housekeeping will not be checking up on you."

"Ok." She said looking as if she was going to shatter in a thousand pieces. She really didn't want him to leave her, but she sat on the king sized bed and tried not to beg him to stay. She didn't know until he was telling her that he was leaving, how much she had depended on him to handle everything. Of course this was his expertise, and she had no experience with murder and hiding away from killers.

She so desperately wanted to ask him how long she would have to remain in this hotel. She knew that Smythe may not be able to locate Menkins or Meeks today. The two could have left town for all she knew. They might be able to locate Weston, but Brittany Clarington's reputation in town was colored with her being an alcoholic, who knew if Hunter Clarington would be questioned or arrested based on her words.

When you are facing death, it helps you put a lot of things in perspective. She knew that Sam loved her without a shadow of a doubt, and she was beginning to fall in love with him because he had been her rock, protecting her, making plans, and even taking care of Simba. A tear fell down her cheek as she realized she hadn't even thanked him; she just took everything he did for her for granted.

"Love, what's wrong?" Sam asked as he sat beside her on the bed and put his arm around her holding her close to his side.

"I am a hot mess Sam. I am overwhelmed. I witnessed a murder, and I didn't even realize it. And I…"

"Hush, you don't have to explain or blame yourself. Nobody expects someone to kill someone without seeing a big fight or they hear gunshots. You are normal and this is outside your worldview, and I am glad that you have not experienced violence on this scale before." He leaned down and softly kissed her lips.

As soon as Sam's lips touched her, it was like a balm had touched her soul. Her thoughts were no longer dismal but now filled with a longing and desire. His kiss made her forget everything as she melted in him and placed her arms around his neck when he attempted to stop the kiss, she whispered in his ear. "Sam, I don't want to die a virgin."

"Where is this coming from Mercy? You are not going to die, and I need to go back to Lima to ensure that you remain alive."

"You are not God, Sam. You don't know how influential Hunter Clarington is, and I may not die today, but I could die before this trial. I may never realize my dream of getting married, owning my own home, and having children, but on my 34th birthday, I promised myself something else. I acknowledged my desire for sex, hot, sweaty, grunting, and passionate sex. I could have had meaningless sex with any of the men at the Yucatan Club who were interested, but I want it to be special, and I know it will be special with you, Sam. So before you leave me here, I am going to have to ask you to make love to me."

"Mercy, you don't know what you are asking me to do. How could I take advantage of you in this state and be a man that is worthy of your love? You are sleep deprived and running on adrenaline and fear of the unknown. It's something that law enforcement officers are used to. I can't do this."

"Sam, the only thing I will regret is that if you leave me in this hotel, and I am somehow found and then, I will never know the physical side of love. I promise you that you are not taking advantage of me. I want you to show me what love truly is in all of its forms. Make love to me Sam."

"Mercy...stop tempting me. I have accused you of being a tease before, but this tops the cake."

"Don't you think I am sexy, Sam? Am I not hot enough for you because I am sleep deprived not wearing makeup, and have bags under my eyes?"

"Stop, Mercy, you will never not be sexy to me. When we are old and gray and have great grandchildren, I will still be hot for you because you are more than a body to me. I love you Mercedes Ann-Marie Jones, and I want to make you mine for an eternity. I just don't want this to cause us to have problems in the future because when your life was in danger, I was too weak to keep it in my pants and be focused on protecting you instead of making hot and passionate love to you."

"But Sam," she said as she leaned away from him and pulled her shirt over her head and unhooked her bra and let it fall to the floor. "I ache for you." She sat on his lap and began to kiss him and wasn't surprised when his hands went to her breasts testing their weight, rubbing her nipples until they became sharp points, and and gently squeezing them as they both got lost in the kiss.

"God forgive me, but you have convinced me Mercy Jones." He said before yanking his own shirt off and peeling her skirt off of her leaving her only in her panties as he removed his pants. He came back to the bed and gently picked her up and removed the top cover off the bed and untucked the sheet. He kissed her while she was still in his arms rocking her against his erection. When his own knees became weak, he laid her gently down on the sheets.

Mercy thought she had melted before, but this time she had really melted especially when Sam put his mouth on her breasts and she could feel the heat pool inside her panties. She moaned thrashing her head back and forth as he used his mouth for sucking, his tongue for licking, and his teeth for nipping every errogenous zone on her body. When he removed her panties and took a whiff of her aroma, she almost died in embarrassment until he licked her panties. Then, she almost died again when he removed his own underwear; her eyes appeared to bulge out of her head. This was her first naked penis, and she could only stare at it in wonder as Sam dragged her eyes upward when he returned to the bed and began kissing her again as he rocked his body in hers and used his long fingers to gently open and widen her by thrusting first one then two fingers and then three to prepare her for his length.

Mercy was so far gone in pleasure that she didn't notice him licking his his fingers and removing a condom from his wallet on the floor; all she knew was that she probably had multiple orgasms, and she still hadn't officially been made love to. Mercy's mind stopped thinking when Sam came back and began kissing her passionately and eased inside her and slowly but thoroughly made love to her bringing them both to fulfillment.

"I want to lay here with you in my arms all night, but you know I have to go Mercy."

Mercy didn't have the strength to move or the energy. She knew she needed to get up and take a shower; Sam had already gotten up thirty minutes ago to flush the condom and bring back a hot washcloth and cleaned her, and then he brought back a hot hand towel that he rolled up and pressed between her legs. At first, she was embarrassed, and then she remembered this was the same man who had licked her panties. So, she chilled out and was grateful when he climbed back into the bed and hugged her close to his body.

When he finally got up the second time, Sam looked around for his clothes and realized that his boxers were missing. He found them and Simba at the time because Simba had been chewing on his underwear. Instead of yelling at the dog, Sam picked him up and told him he was a pain in the ass and cuddled the puppy the same way Mercy did.

Once Mercy saw him do this, she knew that this man was her soulmate and that she was irrevocably in love with him. She eased herself out the bed as she watched him ease his naked butt in his trousers. While Sam dressed, she slowly walked towards him and gave him a kiss to express her love for him. The kiss turned into kisses which kept building on each other, and when she finally ended the kiss for air to refill her lungs, she told him, "Sam Evans, I love you."

What happened next shocked Sam himself as he felt tears come out of his eyes. "You Miss Jones soon to be Mrs. Evans do not play fair at all. How can I go, after you say the words that I have longed to hear from your lips." He bent down and kissed her hard before saying, "I love you more, and it's killing me, but I have to go back to Lima. You don't know how much I want to stay here with you love. But, I gotta go. Remember to not…"

"Open the door for anyone." She finished looking at him.

"I am going to kill Hunter Clarington," Sam said looking down at regret in having to leave his woman. "You can get something to eat next door at the Firehouse Subs if you get hungry before I return. This is the number of my satellite phone, my direct line at the police department, and you already have Cooper's numbers here and his cell phone. Call any of those numbers if you need me." Leaving her was killing him. He was the hot mess now and wasn't even thinking straight.

"Why would I call Cooper if I need you?"

"Because he is helping us find Weston. He has some contacts of people who belong in that world that we need to use." He said kissing her again, giving Simba a pat on the head, and leaving before she could ask any more questions.

As soon as Sam left, Mercy went to the bathroom and took a shower and then went to clean the sheets where some of her bodily fluid had came in contact with the linens. She wasn't getting any new sheets with the DO NOT DISTURB sign on the door, and she didn't want to sleep on nasty sheets trying to avoid the area. After cleaning it, she took a nap and was awaken two hours later by Simba who needed to go out the door.

She came back inside and was a nervous wreck. She was afraid that somebody might have identified her and realized how stupid that was. She didn't even look like she did at the club. Only Hunter Clarington would recognize her face without makeup and her hair all curly. But what about Sam. Surely Weston would recognize him from the club and what about everybody else in Lima who knew of her relationship with the chief of police. Her blood ran ice cold as she reached for her phone and called his satellite's phone number.

She let out a breath of relief when he answered after one ring. "You have to promise me that you will be careful." She said not bothering to return his greeting.

"Oh hell, you have gone off into the ether again, what are you talking about, love?"

"If Hunter Clarington discovers that we are involved, that puts you in danger the same way it put my family in danger."

"Are you forgetting that there is a big difference between me and your family?"

"What difference?" She loved all of them and was willing to die for all of them, so she couldn't see a difference.

"I am armed and ready to take out the SOB and any of his cronies that he may send my way."

"Sam, you are not Superman but flesh and blood. Promise me that you will come back to me in one whole piece."

"Are you sure you are alright?" Sam asked his voice filled with concern for the love of his life.

"Bored, you know that I prefer reading over watching this crazy reality television that now floods the TV." Mercy said and ended the call after he promised to bring her books to her. She began to pace the room because she wasn't a sit and wait to see type of person. Something was going to have to give soon, or she was going to drive herself stir crazy.

Sam ended the call and recognized the restlessness that permeated Mercy's voice. That same sense of foreboding that he felt earlier rose up in his stomach. What if he was unable to find Weston?

The conversation he had just finished before Mercy called had him worried. One of the detectives who had went to go pick up Mrs. Clarington had called because she wasn't at home and was nowhere to be found. She could be dead because there was a chance that Marley Rose had told several people in Lima about the phone call, and there was a possibility that the mayor could have gotten wind of it.

This thought caused the sense of foreboding to come more pressing as he left his office and got in his car and drove back towards Findlay to get to Mercy.

 **A/N: Only one more double chapter to go. Remember that the majority of this chapter belongs to Linda Howard and a tad bit to RIB and the writers of Glee and a very teeny bit belongs to me all those mistakes. Samcex finally happened. They finally confessed their love but too many unanswered questions still to go. I hope you all continue to hang in there and enjoy the remaining chapters 22/23, 24, 25, and the Epilogue by Friday. Thanks again for first of all reading this, and also I appreciate all the people who support the creative flow by reviewing, following, and favoriting. Now, I am going to try to spend the rest of today updating The Evans Eight, and not finish this story that I long to finish. We will see if I am successful.**


	20. Chapters 22&23

**Warning: Chapter 22 and Chapter 23 have profanity. I was using Google type on some parts and it uses ***** for my potty mouth. So, now you know a secret when I get tired of typing I read to Google docs and then have to go through and edit it again and again.**

 **Chapters 22/23**

Shelby didn't know if she should go into Mayor Clarington's office and let him in on everything that was happening, so she stood at his doorway hesitating before entering. Her boss was normally the most polite and even keeled person that she had ever met. She loved her job, because he never had a bad day no matter what he was going through in his personal life, but today just was not going to be his day.

Hunter was more than a little hot under the collar. He had been in a rage all morning. Kicking his wife had not alleviated it, and now seeing Shelby at the door without saying a word just staring at him made him even more upset. He had been a nervous wreck all day because he had yet to hear from Weston, and he didn't know if he had completed the job of tying up the loose end that was Mercy Jones.

To make matters worse the phone call that he got from Rod Remington hadn't instilled him with confidence or joy either. If anybody made the mistake of continually upsetting Remington, then he or she always ended up dead. If Weston was not successful in taking care of Mercy this time, then he knew he was going to have to do something to placate Remington, or they would both wind up dead. Maybe, he should be the one to kill Weston for messing up, but Weston wasn't a novice, and he didn't know if he would be able to kill Brody that easily.

When he looked up again and saw Shelby still there, Hunter could not keep his self-control any longer. "What in the hell do you want? Just please let me know, so I can get some work done, and maybe you can do your own work and earn your paycheck as well."

Shelby had never heard Mayor Clarington talk to her or anyone else in that fashion before; she had never even seen him lose his temper. It wasn't good for his image; perhaps, that's why he had hidden this side of him, but he had more things to worry about than his image today, if she told him about what she discovered. "Mayor Clarington, I would loved to be doing my job, but something has happened today, and I know I've never mentioned anything concerning your personal life, but I just can't help telling you what I discovered today; it was something that I heard that Mrs. Clarington did."

Lord, what has she done now? Hunter could only imagine what new problem that he had to juggle with all the other concerns that were making his head pound in pain. "I know that Brittany has her issues," he confessed and hope that this answer would just give him the normal sympathy and understanding that he got from people, when they had either seen or heard his wife acting in a way that was not becoming of the wife of a mayor but becoming of a hooker who was drunk 24/7.

"I'm not talking about those issues, there's something else."

Hunter wanted to just scream at her when she didn't continue; he didn't care what Brittany had done; he just hoped that she had a drunken accident and finally did herself in by crashing into a light pole at 120 mph.

He composed himself, took a deep breath, and asked, "what has my wife done this time?"

Now that Mayor Clarington had asked, Shelby didn't find any hesitation in revealing what was going on in his personal and private live with his wife. "According to Marley Rose, she called the library and told her that you were trying to have Mercy Jones killed."

"What the hell?" Hunter got up from his chair from his desk with all the color leaving his face as if he was about to have a heart attack. No freaking way could this be happening, oh my Lord, oh my Lord. He suddenly remembered how he felt this morning and how he kicked Brittany before leaving. She must have been listening in on him the whole time that he was talking on the phone. Rod Remington was going to kill him.

"Of course, Marley did not take anything Mrs. Clarington said seriously, but she was very concerned in case your wife did something you know foolish like maybe calling the police department and reporting it."

"The stupid b****!" He didn't know if he was referring to his wife or Marley. It was probably directed at the both of them.

Watching the mayor unfold before her very eyes caused Shelby to think, maybe, there was some truth in what Mrs. Clarington had reported; this was a man she did not know, and no person could be that good at hiding such a volatile side of his character, unless he was bipolar, and therefore mentally unbalanced. She knew she needed to get out of his office as soon as possible. "I just thought you should know what she said." Shelby left his office quickly closing the connecting door with a bang.

Hunter was glad that Shelby had left. He picked up his private cell phone and dialed Weston's number hoping that he hadn't yet taken care of Mercy Jones, but the phone just rang. By the time he had gotten Weston's voicemail for the sixth time, he gave up. Brody probably was busy tracking Mercy down or worse yet getting rid of her body. If Mercy had disappeared after Brittany's call, then the police department would be looking for her. He really needed to talk to Weston, and tell him what had happened, so that Weston would wouldn't go after Mercy at all. Because if Mercy disappeared or her body was found, Hunter knew that he would be charged with the crime.

Hunter knew that he couldn't do anything about the Mercy Jones' situation until he had spoken with Weston. Instead he concentrated on the person who was responsible for his house of cards falling down, Brittany. He could easily stage an accident with her history of being a public drunk. All he would he have to do is injure her head and make sure her car ran into the river. He would get the slut for what she had attempted to do to him. The only holdup in his plan is that he couldn't do it today. Everybody would think he was trying to cover his tracks. He knew if anything happened that would keep him and Weston from handling the Russian shipment that Remington would have his head on a platter.

Before he did anything else, he needed to make things right with Shelby. He didn't need his behavior to get out to the good people of Lima. He hired Shelby because she was good at her job and knew how to manage people without speaking out of turn. Discretion was a big part of the job, but so was loyalty. He had to make sure she remained loyal and kept her mouth shut.

"Shelby, I am so sorry for taking my emotions out on you. What I said was inexcusable and unwarranted. That type of language and behavior is unacceptable. Please forgive me. Before work today, Brittany and I had a major fight. She was drunk this morning before eight am, and I finally had enough and told her it was either the alcohol or me and kids. She went beserk...and now to discover that she used this wild tale to get her revenge…" He pretended to be all choked up.

Shelby was glad that the mayor apologized, but she still looked at him with a side-eye. "Thank you for apologizing. I can understand why you took your rage out on me because I was the bearer of bad news."

"I am so worried about how this has affected Mercy. Do you think she is okay, or should I call and apologize for my wife's behavior?"

"Mercy didn't come in today. According to Marley, her mother called her late last night and said something about a dental emergency. Not that anybody believes that." Shelby said with a lifted eyebrow.

"Why wouldn't people believe that, Mercy has never missed a day of work in her life. I am sure if she's not there, it must be an emergency."

"I try not to gossip, but I don't think that Mercy is at the dentist."

"Why would she have her mother lie for her?"

"Her mother probably believes she is telling the truth. However, I ran into Emma while I was going to lunch, and you know Emma never leaves for lunch. And Emma told me she was out and about because Chief Evans wasn't there."

"Why in the world would that have anything to do with Mercy lying about being at the dentist?"

Shelby was making his headache return in full force.

"I can't believe that nobody has told you. Those two are seriously dating. I think we will be hearing wedding bells soon. Who would have thought that Mercy Jones would be the one to snag the chief of police?"

"How did you find this out?" Hunter felt as if he had just been delivered the final blow.

"Carol Hummel told half the town th last week that they bought a jumbo box of condoms during their lunchtime and that the chief was in a hurry to use them. We all thought it was a sordid affair until he sat beside her at church on Sunday with her family. He has spent the last two Sundays eating supper with her family, and you know that can only mean one thing."

"Yes, he is really serious about her." Hunter said with an astonished croak and cleared his voice. "I am sorry I got a little tickle in my throat." He excused himself by saying he needed to get some water when he fact, he needed to get into his office to process all of the new information he had just learned. Damn. Damn. Triple Damn. Why would Evans pretended he didn't even know who Mercy was when he had run that tag number for him? Unless, he knew that there was no way that Mercy's car could have been dentist because the two had probably followed each other to work from a night of using some of the condoms from that jumbo box of course.

In his wildest dreams, he would have never suspected that Sam Evans and Mercy Jones would be having an affair. This is why Weston had been unable to find her. She had probably been sleeping over at his house. This also explains the reason for her makeover. Apparently, Mercy had decided she wanted the chief of police, and she made changes to her appearance. What had Brody called her a brickhouse fox? Obviously the reason why none of the women who had been throwing themselves at Evans never had a chance because apparently he was into thick black women.

He had to think how he could spin all of this and get his ass out of the sling that he had put himself in. All Evans knew was that he lied about seeing Mercy's car at the dentist. He realized that this meant that he had probably been under Evans' radar because of the lie. He didn't need Sam Evans investigating him, so he had to do damage control, and he had to do it fast. First thing first, he had to find Weston and make sure he didn't touch a hair on Mercy Jones' head. Then, he had to make sure that Weston was ready to handle the Russian shipment tomorrow, and finally he would deal with Brittany.

* * *

Brittany knew without a shadow of a doubt that Hunter knew what she had done by now. Marley Rose had probably spread it around half of Lima, how Brittany Clarington had drunk dialled her with the most absurd story ever. She knew that Hunter would never forgive her for this, and that he would try to take her children away from her permanently by probably telling everyone that she had a mental breakdown.

Brittany wiped the tears that were falling down her face and removed her cell phone from her purse. She was going to Findlay, and she was going to find someone, who was not connected to Hunter, and she would let them listen to her recordings. She wish she could have just given someone at the local police department the phone, but she just didn't know who to trust. She felt her hands shake and realized how badly she would love to have a drink now. But, she wasn't crazy no matter what Hunter believed. She knew she had to bask in sobriety, so people would not think she was some kind of raving drunk. She knew she was a person who couldn't stop with one drink, she had to drink until she was stone-cold drunk.

With great relief, she found that she was not far from Findlay. She went to Findlay a lot to escape the judging eyes of the people of Lima. She shopped, went to the hair salon, and always enjoyed driving to Finlay. The road was very familiar to her. Unfortunately, she had to stop a couple of times to dry heave because her body was detoxing from alcohol without the drugs that she had been given when she forced herself to go to rehab in the past. Withdrawal for her always lasted for weeks instead of hours and days because of the amount of alcohol she consumed. But she knew her symptoms: loss of appetite, shaking, and anxiety were because it had been awhile since her last drink. She was just fortunate that she hadn't experienced the dreaded DTs because then she would need to check herself into a hospital.

Maybe checking herself into rehab was the right thing to do. If she could get to Findlay, that would be easy enough to do. She had already done as much as she could for Mercy. If she stayed in rehab for a month, then everything should be blown over, and Hunter could blame her call on hallucinations brought on by the delirium tremens, and she could start her life over. She could easily do this, if she wasn't so worried about Mercy Jones.

Brittany got her car back on the road but with all the crying and dry heaving, she had caused her mascara and eye makeup to drip into her eyes which caused her to use one of her hands to clear her eyes, so she could see the road. Driving half blind caused her to be unable to maintain her car in the proper lane. When a car attempted to pass her blowing its horn repeatedly, all she could do was apologize. She felt she had spent her entire adult life apologizing because she hadn't been a good enough wife or a good enough mother.

When the white car didn't complete its pass of her but seem to emit some kind of blue strobe light, she panicked thinking that Hunter had sent a Lima police officer after her. She desperately put the pedal to the metal and screeched ahead only to veer again into the left lane and almost hit a oncoming car. She hit the brakes as hard she could to avoid the car and begin to spin out of control and landed into a ditch which made the airbag release and hit her in the face. She saw smoke and thought her car was on fire and began to scream.

Suddenly, her car door was opened, and a big man began talking to her in soft dulcet tones. "You are going to be alright. Your car is not on fire. This is just dust from the airbag that has filled your car."

Once Brittany realized she wasn't going to die, she recognized the voice and then face of Chief Evans. She felt another sense of dread because she didn't know if he was under her husband's thumb. If he was, there wasn't anything to do about it now. It would be better for her to play along with him.

"Are you feeling any other pain other than your face and bloodied nose from the airbag?" Sam asked Mrs. Clarington as he looked over for obvious injuries.

"I don't think, so" She said as she saw him pull out a first-aid kit, open it, and take out some gauze. He told her to it to her nose to stop the bleeding, and she did what he said.

"I heard that you made a call to the library this morning and informed Marley Rose that your husband had asked someone to kill Mercy Jones." Sam continued to talk to the mayor's wife in a soothing tone. "I would really love it, if you would be willing to give a statement on what you heard once you feel up to doing this."

Brittany didn't know if this was a test or if the chief was being sincere. "How do I know that you aren't in cahoots with him?"

"I promise you that I am not. I really care about Mercy Jones, and if anybody is trying to hurt her, I will do my best to make sure that that person is stopped and locked up before they can do her any harm."

Brittany still didn't know if he was lying or not. Men had lied to her before. They called her gullible. She only tried to see the best in people and be honest, and look where that had gotten her. Married to a man who appeared to be a dream come true who ended up being a nightmare. Well, she did remember meeting the chief once and he didn't fall for her practiced seduction, so he may be a good man after all. "I didn't just hear him give Weston the order to harm Mercy Jones, I taped it.

Sam was in the interrogation room with Mrs. Clarington a couple of hours later. He had given her the Breathalyzer test and was shocked that her body didn't register any alcohol at all. She was probably shaken up from the call, and that is why she was acting so paranoid and shaky. Even though she appeared to be ditzy, she was smart enough to record her husband's conversations, and it was his dark and grainy, but his face and voice were recognizable.

Sam almost punched a hole in the table when he heard-'" _Hell, I really don't want her hurt, but if the option is me or her I guess it has to be her. If that Russian shipment comes to harm Remington might lose his mind and take us out'..._ , and the next video did cause him to bite down on his tongue once he heard the conversation because the mayor had his phone on speakerphone with Rod Remington, who Mrs. Clarington had earlier positively identified his voice- ' _I didn't get as far as I have gotten in this business by believing anything unless I first see it. The Russian girls will be here tomorrow, and I want Weston fully involved with making sure nothing goes wrong on that end. If he doesn't make sure that little librarian is taken care of, I will be very unhappy with him and with you._

 _He'll have that issue taken care of today when she leaves the library. He is going to make sure that she simply disappears. When Weston handles something personally, there are never any mistakes._

 _If that is true, then how come Puckerman's body was found so quickly?_

 _Because Weston didn't handle that, he stayed behind to figure out who had seen them in the parking lot. It was the other two who botched the job.'_

With the videos mentioning Puckerman's death, human trafficking, and the conspiracy to kill along with both Mrs. Clarington's and Mercy's statements, Sam knew they had enough information for the judge to issue arrest warrants. They may have not succeeded in killing Mercy, but the mayor and his cronies were going down. Desk sergeant Holly Holiday was one of the people gathered around listening to the videos; she had been assigned to Brittany because Sam could feel that she needed a woman, someone she could trust, to help her through giving her statement. After hearing everything the mayor had put Brittany through first and then seeing and hearing the videos, she got out of her chair and said with the disgust, "that cock sucking snake!"

Holiday was not the only officer angered. Everybody who was in the room was pissed. They were pissed because they either knew Mercy and/or family, or they knew she was the chief's woman. The bad thing about small towns was just about everybody knew everybody else's business, and when you pissed off one, you could end up pissing off all.

Sam could not feed into his staff's ire, he had to be levelheaded and follow everything by the book, so Clarington would not be able to get off the hook. Everybody in the room agreed that Marley had probably already spread the tale to half of the town and that meant Clarington probably already had a heads up. Sam couldn't wait to get a warrant, so he sent two officers to bring the mayor in for questioning. He also contacted Columbus, and they were going to pick up Rod Remington as well. The only loose end was Weston. They still couldn't identify him, but as long as Mercy stayed put in the hotel, she should be safe from him in the short-term.

* * *

Brody was beyond pissed. He was livid with a rage that burned hot inside his normal ice cold veins. Whenever he burned hot, he felt nervous, and it was all because that Jones lady didn't show up anywhere in town. For her and the occupants of her home to pull a disappearing act like that, something had to have gone down.

When she was late for work that morning, he had called the library using a throwaway cell phone because he was sure the library had Caller ID. He asked to speak to Miss Jones, and the woman who answered the phone informed him that she was not in with a weird tone to her voice. It was the underlying tone that she had used that had made him suspicious. He didn't mind that he wouldn't be able to get to the Jones lady that day, but there was some kind of nervous energy that he detected from the woman's voice. What could have made her so nervous?

Brody believed in being a professional. A professional never left anything to chance. A professional always took care of every single detail because it was always the small things that would get you caught or dead. He was where he was today because he listened to his gut. After pondering this, he decided to get back into his car and not the car he had borrowed for the job and pulled out his real cell phone. He noticed that Clarington had tried to call six or seven times. Instead of listening to the voicemails, he decided to just return the mayor's call.

"I know you have probably been checking on me to see if I was able to handle the loose end, but that Jones lady never showed up work today. I thought she might have switched schedules, but when the lady who had been there all morning left at five and a large size white woman entered through the side door, I knew she wasn't coming, so I just came back home and got your calls.

"Weston. Thank God, you were not able to do anything to her."

Brody didn't like the sound of the mayor's voice. Something had happened, and it was so bad that the mayor sounded like a raving lunatic and not his usual cool and collected self.

"We are in deep shit, and we got to do whatever it takes to get out of it it, until all of this mess blows over. We should come up with a story that we can keep straight and back each up."

"What in the hell are you talking about?"

"Brittany...she came in my office when I was talking to Mr. Remington on the phone. She was a clumsy drunk who made me drop my phone when I picked it back up, I was cursing her out, and Mr. Remington suggested I put him on speakerphone so we both could ridicule her dumb ass. Well, she didn't react to our words and leave the room, so I figured she had passed out on the floor or was just too drunk to know anything, so we continued our conversation and she overheard everything. Then, her drunk ass called the library to inform Mercy that I had sent you to kill her, but Mercy wasn't there and she ended up telling Marley Rose instead."

He knew that Clarington was slipping. It was something about that Jones' woman that became the chink in his armor, and he had probably blown everything. "What did Marley Rose do after hearing this information?" He said knowing very well what she had done. She had obviously called the cops and that is why Mercy Jones didn't show up at work, and why she had been so nervous on the phone when he had asked for Miss Jones.

"What do you think she did? She called the police who assumed that Brittany was drunk off her rocker and didn't believe anything that my wife had said to Miss Rose. But if you would have taken care of Mercy today, then I would have been called in for questioning. Probably arrested for the conspiracy to commit murder."

Fab-u-lous, just absolutely fabulous. The cops were alerted to what was going on and if Remington found out that Mercy had gone underground, there would be hell to pay.

"Also, I found out one other thing that has driven me home and into Brittany's alcohol," Hunter said. "The chief of police is in a relationship with Mercy Jones."

"And why would this drive you to drink?"

"Because it was Chief Evans that I had run the tag number for you the other day. I lied and told him some story about seeing it parked in a fire lane. He knows that I lied, and on top of that, he acted like he didn't even know who she was."

Brody took deep breaths to remain calm and not show his thoughts or his hand. He looked at the big picture and examined every minor detail. All of this was Hunter's fault. If he had just asked a random police officer to run a tag number, then he would not be in this mess. No, Hunter couldn't ask a lowly officer, he had to throw his weight around and ask the chief of police. And, then add a lie that could not be substantiated in the mix.

"And that's not all. When I came home to confront Brittany and have her permanently shut up, the cunt wasn't even here."

"You and I both know that Brittany dying would not be a good thing right now. It would incriminate you."

"I don't give a hell. She is an alcoholic, and drunks have accidents all the time."

"That could well be the case, but you and I both are going to have to make as few amount of waves as possible. Mind our p's and q's."

Hunter was so drunk on the Everclear, Vodka, and Tequila that he mixed and drank with rum and coke that he didn't care for what Weston was saying. "I know, but I am still going to take that gaping hole to Mr. Remington and let him work her over again. He'd love it, and she would beg me to not take her as usual." Hunter began to laugh at this idea why he poured himself another drink.

Weston wished he could disappear. How did he ever align himself with such a fool. Let one bad thing happen, and he falls apart. "I am pretty sure the police might be watching her, and if you brought them to Mr. Remington's door, I am sure it will be you with the gaping hole from either a bullet to the brain or being someone's b**** in prison."

"Oh, hell..you are right. I would have to find that drunk anyways, I think she might be in Findlay getting her hair done after causing this mess."

Weston had just calmed Clarington and he didn't want to set him off again, but if he were a betting man, he would bet that the police had brought Mrs. Clarington in for questioning and probably had her giving a statement. Wasn't Clarington smart enough to realize this? If the chief's girlfriend's life had been threatened, nobody would have blown off the call. With Miss Jones not showing up at work today, her family not at their home, and Mrs. Clarington also missing, that all meant one thing that the police were going to pick up Hunter for questioning, and Hunter was so stupid that he couldn't read the writing on the wall.

None of this was good Weston had to revise his opinion about Mayor Hunter Clarington after his actions of yesterday and today. The man he once thought of as having ice cold blood running through his veins certainly could not hold up under pressure. Instead he let his ego and his emotions get in the way of clear thinking. Weston could only imagine what was going to happen when the police started to question him. Would Hunter be able to stick with the script or would he try to cut a deal and let all other heads roll?

"Clarington, can you tell me just how good of a law enforcement officer the police chief is?"

"What do you mean how good? I only hire the best; he was a member of SWAT teams in both Memphis and Nashville I was lucky to get him for a small town like Lima."

Weston could now see everything crystal clear. Unless a miracle from heaven happened, there was no way that Clarington was going to get out of this mess. The idiot had picked a chief of police who was used to going to the front of the battle lines and going in with aggressive force. A man like this, whose girlfriend was threatened, would pull out all stops and make sure that Clarignton went down. The only thing that Brody could see that was working in their favor was that Puckerman's body was not discovered in the chief's jurisdiction of Lima.

"When you were speaking to Mr. Remington this morning, you did not mention Puckerman did you?"

"Unfortunately, that is why he called me. He was very upset that the body had been discovered so quickly, and I told him it was because you hadn't handled the body yourself."

So, the police not only probably knew Remington's name, but they had his name and his involvement with Puckerman's death. The loose thread had caused all the others to unravel, and there was nothing that Brody could do to stop this ship from sinking.

"Okay, I need you to listen up and listen up carefully; you cannot deviate from this script. The police are going to question you and when they question you since there have been no attempts on Mercy Jones' life, no actual crime has been committed by you. Chief Evans will probably want to know why you lied, and then, you can tell him that the car you had seen did not belong to Mercy but to someone else, that somehow you had transposed two of the digits or wrote it down wrong. Got it?"

"Okay, that sounds good."

"When they question you about Mrs. Clarington's phone call, you are to tell them that you don't have a clue to what they are referring to. Now, are you sure she was drunk this morning?"

"That lush is always filled up on alcohol because she doesn't eat anything. Her drinks are her breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

"That didn't answer my question, was she drunk?"

"When she accidentally came inside my office mumbling something about this not being the bathroom, she crashed against me causing me to drop my phone."

Weston didn't hear him he say, he had seen his wife drinking or smelled alcohol on her breath. With the way things were unfolding, he was certain that if Hunter said she was drunk, then for once in her life Brittany Clarington was sober as a teetotaler.

"Do you really believe that I will be brought into questioning and asked this by the chief?"

 _Does the sun rise in the freaking east?_ "I believe that there is a good chance. But if you stick to the script, there won't be any problems."

"Do you think we should notify Mr. Remington?"

 _What and sign our own death warrants. This man has totally lost it._ "I don't think, so. Remember he wanted Mercy Jones taken care of today, so I could be devoted to handling the Russian shipment. As long as the Russian merchandise is delivered and sold, he will be alright."

"With all this going on, I had completely forgotten about the Russian shipment."

"Don't worry, you play the dutiful long suffering husband, and I will take care of the Russian shipment and everything else." Brody said and ended the call.

This was the definition of a clusterfuck. Mrs. Clarington had not only his name, but she also had the mayor's name, Mr. Remington's name, and most of all Puckerman's name. The police chief didn't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out everything, if he had gotten a statement from Mrs. Clarington. The chief would be busy checking everything out to make sure she wasn't lying. During his checking he will realize who Puckerman was and wonder how a small town librarian knew him. He'd then show Mercy Jones Puckerman's picture, and the rest would be history cause then she would be able to identify him as well as the two other men who had been with him.

You have to know when to hold them and know when to fold them, and Brody knew that this was the time to fold. He weighed his options. He always had another identity that he could use to start over somewhere else, but that was for life and death situations only. This situation was not life and death. He may have to serve a year or two in prison, but if he was smart, he could get out of serving time at all. He didn't stab Puckerman; the only thing that they could arrest and convict him for was obstructing justice and maybe conspiracy to commit murder.

Besides he had learned one thing from Puckerman. He had been afraid that Puckerman had made a deal with the police and snitched and looked to them for immunity and protection, because that was exactly what he would have done if he had been in Puckerman's shoes. He was now in Puckerman's shoes, and he wasn't going to die or go to prison for a bunch of rich ass pansies.

He knew that as soon as Clarington was questioned that he was going to spill everything for a deal and blame everything on him. But he wasn't anybody's sucker or fool, and he was not going out like that. Methodically and the epitome of coolness under fire, he drove his car to Lima and headed for the police department. His interest was piqued in the number of cars that greeted his arrival. He went up the stairs and through the door and noticed that officers who should be out patrolling the streets were standing together in groups and talking in low voices..

He went up to the desk-sergeant a beautiful woman who had a bright smile and a sunny disposition who had just walked away from a distraught woman who was equally as beautiful but was visibly shaken. He might have never been introduced to her, but he had researched everything there was to know about Hunter Clarington, and he knew that was Brittany Clarington, and she wasn't acting drunk at all, which didn't surprise him.

He looked back to the desk sergeant who was waiting on him to identify himself. "I think that I am the man that you all are looking for. If you will allow me to introduce myself, I am Brody Weston."

 **A/N: You mean I gave yall 2 chapters and didn't feature Mercy, Samcex, or Samcedes just the disturbing world of Hunter, Brody, and Brittany just like the author did in the original work. Yep blame Ms. Howard not me. Only blame me for my typos. Thanks again for all the support, I really truly appreciate it. It makes me use my time spent on this story alone for the next 2 days, once it's finished I am going to take a mini break and come back in July and once again occasionally update Evans Eight. I am devoted to finishing this and this alone for now.**


	21. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

There were two things that happened in Sam's live that he had never would have counted on happening. Number two on the list was having Brody Weston walk into the station, introduce himself, and then calmly ask to speak to him. And even though that was completely unexpected, it still couldn't top the one thing that was number one on his list, which was his reaction every time he was near Mercy Jones, but he was teaching himself to cope with that feeling, so he wouldn't scare her off. With everything that had happened to him in less than a month, he was also beginning to think miracles did happen which made the impossible possible. That woman had him thinking of marriage, installing a picket fence, dogs, and children; something two months ago he would said was definitely not for him.

Weston was a well dressed man of average height and build. He had short brown hair and was clean-shaven with nails cut and clean and no ostentatious jewelry or accessories. He didn't even look like the televised version of a professional hitman that most people imagined. Sam was smart enough to know that criminals came in all shapes sizes colors and could be wearing diamonds and pearls. Women were paid assassins and were some of the smartest criminals out there. The really smart ones looked just like this man in front of him an average Joe with nothing distinguishing to identify him to witnesses.

What surprised Sam the most was that Weston was also very calm, and he knew exactly what he wanted. "I'm here to cut a deal," he said. "I will give you Mayor Hunter Clarington, the man who stabbed Noah Puckerman, and a man named Rod Remington plus a whole lot more. All you need to do is contact the district attorney and bring him here, and I'm ready to tell all that I know."

"We don't need you to tell us who stabbed Puckerman," Sam said looking at him,"that was Cooter Menkins."

Weston didn't even act like he was surprised. "I guess Miss Jones has already identified him, hasn't she?"

"Oh, she was able to get a good look at all three of you."

"She must be in some sort of witness protection. I am sure you made sure that she is secreted away somewhere very safe."

Sam didn't even deign himself to respond; he just took his time and looked over Weston. The man had the most excellent poker face that he had ever seen; he gave away absolutely nothing.

"Well, I have something even bigger to tell you than the public service that was done to eliminate that piece of putrid trash." Weston said as he leaned back and looked just as cool, calm, and collected and Sam.

"The only thing that I need from you is for you to tell me how Clarington fits in to all of this."

"Do you wonder where all the Clarington wealth comes from?" It's from human trafficking; it began with slavery and has continued for centuries. The business is used to launder the money here in Lima. There's a lot of money tied into human trafficking." Weston said and then continued, "Are you going to call the district attorney or not? You people are going to need to move fast because there's something very big going down tomorrow."

"The Russian shipment of girls," Sam said looking smugly.

Weston for once appeared surprised. "I guess you all know more than I thought, but you don't know who, where, when, and how, do you?"

"I bet Hunter Clarington has all of that information, and we will get him to disclose it when we question him."

"You have him all figured out. I know he will tell all; he is a man that won't do well in prison and will do whatever it takes to remain a free man."

"If you know this, then why are you wanting to make a deal with the district attorney?"

"Because, I am not sure that Clarington will not lie and put all the blame on me and Remington and pretend that he was set up or blackmailed to do the things that he has done. He will be able to afford the best lawyer there is, and he has friends, and I want to make sure that I am not the sacrificial lamb."

Sam saw Weston for the cold calculating man that he was and realized that Weston was not a fool nor was he lying to him. "Do you have documented information on them that we will need to win the case?"

"Yes, I do. I documented everything, every transaction, every call, and did my own investigation on the two them in case I needed it as leverage because there is no honor among crooks. And with Clarington making the mistake of hiring Puckerman in the first place made me be extra careful just in case something went wrong, and I needed a way out."

Sam nodded his head, and then made his way to his office to call the district attorney's cell number. He had a gut feeling that if a deal had to be made, then they would be better off cutting the deal with Weston than Clarington. It wasn't that he thought that Clarington would be less than forthcoming, but he trusted his gut instinct that led him to believe that Weston would be a better state witness because he was more collected, organized, and ruthless. He hated the idea of Weston getting any deal, but sometimes the prosecution office had to make deals with the devil.

* * *

When he finished all of his calls, he wanted to make sure that Mercy knew that she was safe. He called the front desk of the hotel, and he listened to the phone ringing. The phone kept ringing and ringing, and Sam began to panic, breaking out in a cold sweat. He hung up the phone thinking that maybe front desk had switched him over to the wrong room. So, he ended the call and then called back asking for the room number again. The phone rang seven times, and there was still no answer. Maybe she had went to take the dog out to pee, or maybe she had went to get something to eat. He decided to call her cell phone to see if this was the case.

When she finally answered the phone, her voice sounded breathless as if she had been running, and Sam instantly was filled with relief. He couldn't stop himself from growling, "What took you so dang long to answer the phone?"

"Simba was going stir crazy in the room, so I took him out and his leash somehow got out of my hand, so I had to chase him around the parking lot of the hotel."

Sam could see that happening and realized that was why she hadn't answered the phone in the room when he called. She had probably left her cell phone in the hotel as well. "I thought you had left the hotel and was coming back to Lima."

"Sam Evans, do you think that I am plum out crazy or just plain old stupid? I would never put my life in jeopardy like those silly women in movies and books do. They are told to not leave, and they always disobey instructions, and then they end up not only putting themselves in danger, but they also endanger a lot of other people. I really never felt any sorrow for them when they got hurt because they put themselves in a position to be hurt. Now, another type of woman in a movie that I can't stand is the one who hits the would be killer with something and then runs. I am like kick him in the knees, then kick him in the balls, then find something big and heavy to scoot over and tumble on him. Finish him off then run like hell…"

"Mercy, you are going off into the ether," Sam said trying to reel her back in.

"Are you interrupting me to apologize?"

"I am very sorry that I thought you had done a runner, but the last time I talked to you, you acted is if the walls were closing in on you, and you thought something was going to happen me. I didn't put it past you to call Cooper and have him come get you, so you could try to rescue me, and if calling didn't work, that you would have walked to his store or taken an Uber."

"Whatever Sam Evans, I will accept your apology, but I am not sure I should."

"Maybe when I tell you the good news, you will change your mind, love."

"What good news?"

"You are safe; we have Weston here at the station. He turned himself in."

"Then, it's all over and I can come home."

"We still have a lot of loose ends to tie up. I have contacted Smythe, and they still haven't found Menkins and Meeks yet, but I am sure they will. Brittany Clarington has her husband on videos making threats against you, and we have Weston who is ready to confess everything on everybody, but I don't know when you will able to come home."

"Will I have to stay the night?"

"I don't know how long all this will take, so you might have to."

"You can just send Cooper to my house to get my things, and if I don't need to stay, then he can bring me home."

Sam hung his head in guilt because he had promised to get Cooper to pack her a bag earlier, and he had forgotten all about it. "I will see if he is available. If I am able to contact him, then I promise to have him bring you your things."

"You forgot to call him earlier?"

"I am sorry, but I did. Everything just started to happen so quickly. Have you spoken to your mother and Aunt Jo?" Sam said trying to change the conversation, so she would hopefully forget his mistake.

"No, not yet. I am sure they will be contacting me soon through Jane, because they would figure her or Anthony's phone will be safe to call from."

"Okay, I promise you that I am going to call Cooper now. I love and miss you so much baby."

"I love you and miss you more. Simba is missing the rest of his pack, so get us home quickly."

After he told Mercy he would, Sam ended the call and called Cooper. He quickly filled in Cooper with everything that had occurred since he talked to him last, and brought him him up to date on Mercy and her requests.

"Sure, I will do whatever she needs me to do. I kind of owe her my eternal devotion anyways for my prior actions. You mentioned that Weston gave details about the sex trade. It is possible that he may some vital information on the men I have been looking for, and if not that, he may have some information on the dealers, who are selling the date-rape drugs."

"I wouldn't be the least bit surprised. Right now I believe that anything is possible. If you want to ask some questions, you can come to the station, and I will allow you to use my office to interview him."

"Unfortunately, I am not allowed to get involved yet. I can't break my cover."

"I figured that, and that is why I volunteered my office and not the interrogation room. I will get the district attorney to ask him about the date-rape drugs. Just let me know what you want to do, and I will arrange it."

"I think we should play it cool now on my front. If you can have the district attorney record his interrogation and give me a copy of the recording, then I can see if my superiors will be ready for me to drop my cover."

"That works for me. I must warn you if you go and get Daisy that she has Simba with her."

"Oh that adorable ball of fur. I didn't know she had named him."

"He may be adorable, but if I were you, I wouldn't keep my eyes off of him. He has an appetite for men's apparel, and I will leave it at that." Sam ended the call with a big smile on his face and headed back into the interrogation room where his detectives were taking Weston's statement. As he was entering the room, another detective and police officer were on their way to bring Mayor Clarington in for questioning.

As Sam pondered over all of the the day's events, he couldn't believe how quickly everything was happening. In less than 24 hours, they had gone from know nothing to now knowing more than they had bargained for. And some of their success came from the happenstance of him seeing Mrs. Clarington on the road headed to Findlay because she was driving so erratically that he suspected that the driver was drunk, but most of the case was solved because of Clarington's and Weston's mistakes. Even though Brody Weston may think he was smart, he had been the epitome of stupidity for one getting involved with Clarington in the first place, and two for sticking around and turning himself in. It was both their actions, they caused this downfall which began with the public killing of Noah Puckerman for overdosing a Jane Doe and spiralled out of control from there.

When the D.A. and his assistant finally arrived having to come from their respective homes, they were upset because they knew that Hunter Clarington was a highly respected member of the Lima community and Allen County. The duo wanted to make sure that all charges would stick and made sure that the law enforcement agencies in both Columbus and Findlay had what it took to bring down the head of the snake, Rod Remington.

"We have Mayor Clarington on visible video taken from his wife's phone talking to Brody Weston about the contracted murder of Mercy Jones and about the sex trafficking of Russian women, and Rod Remington was mentioned. We also have audio from a video of Mayor Clarington speaking to Rod Remington with the same information. So, I am definitely sure we have what it takes to bring down these so called kingpins."

"Was the video legally obtained?"

"Mrs. Clarington, the mayor's wife, used her phone to tape her husband because he had been forcing her to use her body to negotiate deals, and she was going to use the information for evidence against him, so that when she filed for divorce, she would have proof, and it wouldn't be his word against hers a known alcoholic with loose morals."

It took awhile for the district attorney to consider the legality of the video. It was Mrs. Clarington's own phone, and the mayor obviously knew his wife was in the room with him while he was having these conversations. Even if the videos were found to be inadmissible, her testimony could not be refuted because of the presence of the videos, and the deal that Weston was asking for would confirm her testimony with his own admittance. Therefore, even though he didn't want to give Weston a deal, he would have to to ensure the solidity of the case.

"Okay, I am ready to see what Mr. Weston can tell us, so we can get the ball rolling."

* * *

Hunter had not heard from Brittany all day, and it was night, and he didn't know if he should be worried or not. When his housekeeper came to tell him that Detective Tanaka and Officer Adams were there to see him, he took a deep calming breath and figured that Brittany's phone call had resulted in them questioning him like Weston had said they probably would. He wasn't worried because like Weston had said with Mercy Jones still alive, they had nothing to charge with him. The only mistake he had made was telling a lie when he had Mercy's license tag number ran. It was obvious that Mercy had not seen anything in the parking lot while she was at the Yucatan Club, or she would have told the cops and arrests would have been made. He was free and clear. He picked up a newspaper before his housekeeper came in to inform him of the police's presence, and he continued to read it after he told her to show the officers in.

When the two men entered his office, Hunter stood up to shake the hands of the senior officer. "Good evening, Ken," he said to the man before continuing. "What has brought you to out to my humble abode."

"We are here to ask you some questions concerning the phone call your wife made this morning." Detective Ken Tanaka said, and he didn't crack a smile at Clarington's joke about a humble abode when the house probably was worth a million dollars.

"Okay, come in and have a seat. Shelby mentioned that Brittany had called the library and spoke to Marley Rose about some nonsense that she had made up. I do believe my wife was quite inebriated at the time of the call. I am sure you heard that she's an alcoholic."

"We are fine with standing. Have you settled down for the evening?" Tanaka asked looking at how Clarington had a newspaper close by as if he had been reading it.

"I have had the worst day imaginable, so I brought home my work with me. I planned to finish reading the paper before dinner, and then finish up my work after dinner. Has something else happened?"

"Well, for the first time since you have been elected, you didn't attend the city council meeting tonight. It started over five minutes ago."

Hunter cursed himself as he thought about how suspicious his missing the meeting looked. Ken Tanaka had been an officer with the police department for over twenty years, so he knew something must be wrong for Hunter to miss the meeting and totally forget about it. "I remembered the meeting, but I thought it would be best to remain home with Brittany. I didn't trust her to be alone and make even more outrageous phone calls." He said grateful that they had an enclosed garage, and the officers would not know that her car was missing.

"That's interesting because when I left the station, I saw Mrs. Clarington there. If you would come with us, we'll drive you to the station as well." Ken Tanaka said calmly and respectfully even though he had caught Mayor Clarington in a major lie.

"How did she get there?" He asked and tried to make himself sound shocked. "Is she okay?"

"She is more than okay, sir."

"Well, that's a relief because I had no idea she had snuck out of the house. She has been so irrational as you can tell from hearing about her phone call this morning."

"We are going to need you to please come with us, sir."

"I will follow you into town, that way you won't have to worry about bringing me home."

"I am sorry, sir, but it's not an option. We were told to make sure that you ride with us."

Clarington stepped back from the men, but it did him no good because Tanaka and the other officer quickly apprehended him and handcuffed him. He stared at the two men as if they had lost their minds. "Do you know who I am? Take these handcuffs off of me right now! I am not some criminal, and you don't have the right to treat me like I am one."

"We are handcuffing you because we have to follow protocol. Believe me it's for your safety as well as for our own. We will remove the handcuffs off of you as soon as we enter the police station. The two beefy men directed him out of his office and out of his house leaving his housekeeper with a shocked gaze on her face as she went to make sure that his kids didn't witness his arrest.

As soon as they were out the house, Clarington's control snapped. "I don't give a shit about protocol. You two are fired because there is no excuse for this type of brutality."

"If, you say so sir," was all Tanaka said in response as they put him in the backseat of the car.

Hunter was so furious that he could barely breathe nonetheless talk. Sam Evans had to be the reason behind all of this; surely, this was an attempt to get back at him because he had to be insanely jealous of the attention that Hunter had given Mercy Jones. He must have thought that the mayor hadn't recognized Mercy with her new look and was only trying to get her information from her tag number in order to try to date her. That had to be the explanation because surely him asking the chief to run Mercy's tag number could not have resulted in him being arrested unless the chief believe what Brittany had said.

Because of this thought, Hunter couldn't prevent himself from beginning to hyperventilate; the officers told him to slow his breathing, and he began to do that because he knew he had to stay calm and collected to handle this obstacle. Brittany was an alcoholic, a drunk, who in their right minds would believe what she said against him? The entire town knew of her reputation, and they knew of his. Besides, she had no proof other than a one-sided telephone conversation that she must have overheard, and she was bound to have twisted all of that with her alcohol soaked brain.

When they had finally reached the police department, Hunter was amazed at the amount of cars that were there. There had to be something going on besides the city council meeting. When he saw three of the city councilmen standing outside the police department doors, he began to feel his stomach knot up with tension. Because it was evening the sun had gone down and the fierceness of the heat of the day was gone, but there were sweat still on the back of his shirt when Tanaka open the car door, and the other officer assisted him from the back seat.

The rest of the city council members were looking him as he made his way towards the precinct. He looked at them and noticed how they refused to look him in the eye. It was if they had stayed after the meeting to watch him be arrested, so they could have something to gossip about. Hunter couldn't take it anymore; he refused to be embarrassed and exhibited like an animal at a zoo. "Remove these handcuffs off of me right now!" he ordered Tanaka in a fierce voice that was too low for the councilmen to overhear. "Can't you see that the city council are watching this?"

"As I told you earlier, I am going to remove the handcuffs as soon as we're inside, sir," Tanaka said catching Clarington's arm and keeping him from hurting himself.

They were only doing this because they were afraid he was going to run. Panicking he glanced around the parking lot, and he saw a car that he knew as well as his own. It was a gray Chevy, and it was parked in the parking that was reserved for patrol cars only, but nobody had asked the driver to remove the vehicle.

The only person that he knew that drove a car like that was Brody Weston. He drove his Impala instead of a luxury car like the one Clarington drove because he had picked the car and it's color because nobody would ever notice it. The car had a Hancock County tag. Brody lived just outside of Findlay in Hancock County. Could they have arrested Weston already. But if they arrested him, he wouldn't have driven his own car to the police station. How would have they even had found him? The only reason why Weston could be here was if he had betrayed him and a cut a deal.

The mayor began to hyperventilate again, and the only words that could be heard coming from his mouth was Weston and death threats towards Weston. He stopped hyperventilating once the anger increase,d and he got his second wind and began to fight against Detective Tanaka, elbowing him in the stomach. This blow caused the detective to let Hunter go, and Hunter was able to run towards the station intent on killing Brody Weston with his bare hands. Clarington was oblivious to the performance he was giving to not only the entire city council but also most of his staff and any local person who happened to be on main street at that time.

His freedom from the officers did not last long because he was was only able to take a few steps before the officer and Tanaka were able to take him down by wrapping their arms around his knees. Because he was still handcuffed, he was unable to break his fall with his hands, so he face planted on the hard concrete causing him to severely scrape his face and break his nose from the impact. Snot mixed with blood poured from his nose as the mayor was brought to his feet and ushered inside the building. The city councilmen that were at the door stepped aside aghast that the mayor was still yelling and threatening Weston, and when he got close to them, they looked at him as if they had saw some vile and nasty.

When he saw the disgusted looks on the councilmen faces as he passed by them, Hunter Clarington knew he should try to think of something to say that would exonerate him in their eyes along with the eyes of the people watching below; some with their phones recording his actions. He should step up to his role as mayor and reassure his constituents. However, it was if his brain was frozen, and he couldn't say one thing to make himself look better, all he could do was grimace in pain and think of the ways he was going to pay Brittany and Brody back. This was all their freaking fault anyways.

* * *

 **A/N: Since I only was going to do one chapter today, I gave my family some extra love and care and time that I had previously not been able to give. So, I feel great! I don't own anything but the mistakes. Thanks again for all the incredible support** **my prolific and faithful reviewers give, I really truly appreciate it. Just one more chapter and an epilogue to go. We can do this. We have come to far to give up. Oh enough motivating and let me get back to typing a sentimental ending that's all peaches and yogurt not cream b/c happily ever after is not real but trying to be can be. Brody is the antihero in this story and that will make sense in the next chapter. So, I know you want him and Hunter to kill each other, but I will stick to the original author's ending which was like she was setting up book two but never published it.**


	22. Chapter 25

**Warning: Latter part of the chapter is rated R for Samcex. Mentions of date-rate drugs, human trafficking, and violence and crime spread throughout the chapter.**

 **Chapter 25**

All Sam Evans could do was look at Clarington and grimaced. The man had a made a bloody spectacle of himself. Everybody in the police department stopped what they were doing and stared at him. Sam had Emma call the EMT to send a medic a to treat the mayor's injuries. He didn't want a lawsuit or a case of police brutality to cloud the issue. After hearing from Tanaka and realizing there were several witnesses to the mayor's attack on the detective and his subsequent fall and capture, while threatening to kill Weston, Sam was able to breathe a little easier as Clarington, once he seen his wife smiling at him, went totally catatonic. Sam thought maybe the bastard was going to try to go with the insanity plea, but it only took the district attorney and his assistant coming out with Weston to see the commotion to snap the mayor right out of this state and back into his heated anger with threats of violence to both Weston and now his wife.

Once the medic got there and sedated him, set the broken nose, and cleaned all his wounds from debris, Clarington only said one statement, "I am not talking until my attorney is notified and is present." The district attorney who had a ton of information from Weston, set the information out along with his wife's recordings of his phone conversations, and Hunter went from red to white to blue to back to red, white, and blue until all the evidence was given and he started to cry like a baby and demanded that D.A. cut him a deal. When the D.A. refused, his anger returned, and he sat there seething in silence until his lawyer arrived.

Sam was able to observe all of this through the double paned window. He didn't feel an iota of sympathy for the man, who had lost more than he could ever recover due to greed and crime. He had once thought the mayor incapable of human feeling, but he realized that the mayor he thought he knew was just an actor playing a role. The role of mayor was one that he did without causing suspicion on his other life, that of a human trafficker. His one mistake was having Mercy Jones' car tag ran by Sam. Once he did that, Sam was never going to let it go until he found out everything there was to find out about Hunter Clarington. He had noticed the mayor's absences and was suspicious all along, but that one telephone call and lie had opened his eyes to how suspect the town's mayor actually was. Clarington had no idea the can of worms that were going to explode when the mayor's wife got involved, and his business associate turned against him.

Sam couldn't stand there and watch the lawyer circumvent the district attorney's questions to his client any longer. Hunter Clarington was smart enough to follow his lawyer's advice, but they really didn't need his cooperation. They had more than enough proof to convict him. Sam went to his office and called up all the local agencies that were not present and constructed a multi departmental task force team to deal with the Russian shipment of girls that were to be transported tonight to the safe place outside of Westerville, Ohio, a place that Clarington had found on his father's hunting lands that was so remote that the camper trailer fit right in without causing suspicion. At first Clarington had balked about having the trailer on any property that could be traced back to him, but Weston had convinced him that the couldn't use the U-Haul like they did last time, and they had been in a hurry to find and set up a place. The place was to be used for this shipment alone, and both men were to go scouting for another property later on.

Sam and the task force had gone over the location and all the logistics with Brody Weston for what felt like a million times before the task force was ready to fully assemble in Westerville. The flight that would bring the girls to the airport in Columbus was soon to land, and Sam and the rest of the law enforcement officers got in their vehicles and followed Brody's car to the isolated trailer that was in fields that was surrounded by woods.

When Sam looked down at his watch, he noticed that It was about to be 3 a.m., and the hills were not alive with the sound of music, but the sound of law enforcement officers, who were lying in wait for the delivery of the Russian girls. This task force consisted of members from the FBI, INS, Allen County Police Department, Hancock County Sheriff's Department, and the local Franklin County Sheriff's Department. This select group of officers had hidden themselves among the trees, the bushes, and anything else they could find. They had parked their vehicles far away from being sighted on an entire different road and had walked over a mile over a field to reach the trailer where the girls were to be housed.

In his usual role, Brody Weston was there making sure everything happened as initially planned. The task force knew that if a stranger has shown up instead of Weston, then the driver of the van would have been spooked, and since he was armed probably would have hurt more people than was necessary.

Clothed in black blending into the night shadows was Sam Evans who was positioned underneath a pine tree. Police chiefs rarely saw action on the field, but it had been unanimously voted that because of Chief Evans experience with a rifle when he was a part of the SWAT and Bomb squad that he would be a welcome addition to the task force. Because Rod Remington had had a bad experience with the Mexican shipment, this time he was making sure that the driver was not to be left alone with the girls as Puckerman had been. An armed guard was to accompany the driver and the girls to ensure that nothing went wrong. These two men were outnumbered by a task force that had 30 people. However no matter the odds, there was always a chance that something could happen that could derail the task force's plan.

As the black rifle lay in Sam's arms, he couldn't help experience the sense of déjà vu he had felt. Through his extensive training, he knew the exact pressure to put on the trigger and how much kick to expect after each shot. Before leaving with the task force because of his hands, he had spent an extra hour just shooting hundreds of blank rounds of ammunition at a firing range to make sure he was physically capable of using the rifle with the proficiency of his past performances. The rifle had become like an old friend to him; one that he hadn't realized he missed until he had taken it out of his cabinet in his house and grew reacquainted with the way it settled into his arms.

Earlier, Weston had entered the trailer and settled into his role as he awaited the shipment. Weston wore a wire, and two other members of the task force had entered the trailer with him to make sure that it was empty. Now it was just Weston inside with the lights on watching television. Sam trusted Brody to be left alone in the trailer, because he knew that even with an opportunity to make a dozen telephone calls to compromise the task force, that Brody wouldn't risk the deal that he cut with the district attorney. The D.A., once he had all the concrete evidence that Weston provided, almost wept with tears of joy and had given him the best deal possible. Brody Weston would not have to serve time, but instead would have 5 years probation, which was nothing to a man like Weston. Sam didn't like the deal but knew it was out of his hands.

Finally the task force heard a roaring sound, and as it got closer, they recognized it and it was the sound of a motor running. Because it was so late, the sound was amplified amidst the normal nighttime sounds of insects and amphibians and birds of the night. Sam felt that same adrenaline rush that he was used to, and his body reacted like a well-oiled machine complete with total muscle memory as he gripped the rifle and waited.

When the van came into sight, they noticed as soon as the driver pulled into the driveway, he turned off the was no other signal of any kind such as a blowing of the horn or a random flashing of the headlights. Instead, Weston went outside with a flashlight in hand as stood on the stool that was needed to enter and the camper trailer. As soon as the driver saw Weston, he turned the van off and got out of the automobile.

"Hey there Weston," he greeted Brody as he and the guard went to the back of the van and open the doors.

"Did you all have any trouble coming up here?" Brody asked.

"The only trouble we had was that one of the girls the youngest one got very very sick, and she vomited in the back of the van, and we had to pull over and wash out the van to prevent the other girls from becoming sick from the smell of it."

"We need to get them all inside and cleaned up, so that Mr. Remington will be pleased to see this latest shipment."

"Oh, I heard that he's been waiting on the very young one; she is surely the prettiest little girl that you've ever seen, but she's also been the one that's been, so sick. She's not real energetic right now. She is the one who came with her sister who was excited that her future husband didn't mind that they came as a package deal. When we told them the truth, she became quite ill."

From the distance, Weston heard the sound of another car, and this alarmed him because he wasn't expecting another car. It also alarmed the members of the task force who heard the car and froze in place as well. Brody, who knew he had a wire on, spoke as if he was only speaking to the driver and the armed guard, but he was speaking to everyone when he said, "let's hold off and make sure that the car is going to drive pass here without turning into the driveway."

However, the car did slowed down as if it was about to turn, and the van's driver instead went back towards the van and open the door getting ready to get inside and leave with the girls. Everybody on the task force held their fire, and they waited to see what was going to happen.

Once the car turned into the driveway, Brody Weston turned to the side to shield his eyes from the headlights of the automobile. The car was a white Acura that pulled up behind the van. And then the headlights suddenly were turned off, and a tall man with graying light brown hair wearing a suit; even though, it was hot and muggy exited the vehicle. The one thing that was going through Brody's mind was who would wear suit at almost 3 a.m. in the morning?

When he heard his voice being called with a distinct voice that people, who were actors or newscasters possessed, Brody did not have a doubt that the voice belonged to Rod Remington, and he greeted the man. "I did not know we were to expect you tonight, Mr. Remington."

Sam knew as well as most of the task force knew that they had sent officers to arrest Mr. Remington, but he was nowhere to be found. They figured he had either left the country and went to the Caribbean or was somewhere very comfortable in Europe where there was no extradition to America.

Brody then went to the van and open the door and told the driver and the guard that it was okay that it was only Mr. Remington. "He is the person who is charge of this operation." After hearing this, both men relaxed and got out of the van with their hands empty leaving their guns inside of the van.

"Unfortunately, there been a lot of mistakes, too many mistakes for my piece of mind. We can't afford to lose one piece of this shipment. So, I have personally come to take care of this business transaction to guarantee that nothing goes wrong." Remington told Weston looking at the man with disgust on his face.

Sam knew exactly why Remington was there; it was not to ensure the safety of the girls, but more than likely to get his hands on the young girl that the other guys had mentioned earlier. The thought of this caused his stomach to roll as he felt nauseated from the mere thought of this despicable and perverted crime. Sam knew that Remington's presence was going to alter their plan, because the man was not expected to be there, and the take down of the traffickers was not going to go the way they had anticipated.

"I promise you that nothing will go wrong this time." Brody assured Remington.

"I am a thousand percent sure that nothing will go wrong." Remington said as he pulled out a gun from the pocket of his suit jacket. He aimed and fired at Weston before any of the men surrounding them could react, and Brody's body was slammed against the van from the force of the bullets.

Sam's finger gently squeeze the trigger as he took his time to aim exactly where he wanted to hit Remington, and Remington went down with a scream that could be heard two counties over.

Then, all hell broke lose. To the uninitiated the explosion of noise, lights, and motion as black-clad heavily-armed members from their hiding places all shouting police get your hands up identifying themselves as FBI or whichever the case might be would be. The scene was pure pandemonium and nothing but terrifying to the Russian females who were inside a van while this was all happening. But the task force was composed of veteran officers who had experienced, and the two men who were outside the van by Weston's body also had experience and knew the drill. They froze with their arms automatically going up to lock their hands behind their heads.

Once the men were handcuffed, the team noticed the Russian girls inside the van screaming and crying and trying to escape as they beat against the locked door of the van. One of the closest agents got the key from the driver and opened the door. Everyone who was close by had to take more than a couple of steps back because of the stench once the doors were opened and the girls started to come out. Because none of the officers were near them, the girls escaped the prison of the van, kicking and scratching as they were eventually caught and held.

One girl managed to slip past everyone and run full speed down the dark country road before sheer exhaustion made her stumble and fall; an agent, who was chasing after her, picked her up and carried her like a baby in his arms, while she sobbed and made hysterical exclamations in her own language. Before they left, they made sure that the INS provided a Russian speaking agent for this task force, and she began trying to calm the girls, saying the same phrases over and over until they'd actually began to listen.

There were seven of them who looked to be from 18-21, and the rest of the girls appeared to be younger than 15. They were all filthy, undernourished, and exhausted. According to intel gathered earlier from Weston, none of the girls had been sexually assaulted. They were all virgins, and were to be sold for ridiculously high prices to gangs, who would then charge wealthy depraved men even more for the privilege of being the first to rape the girls. After that, they would be used as prostitutes, and sold over and over among gangs who would work them for a while, then sell them off. None of them spoke English fluently; all of them had been told that if they didn't cooperate, their families in Russia would be murdered.

It was only until the INS translator reiterated to the girls over and over again that their families wouldn't be harmed, that they would be able to go home, did the girls calm down enough to listen to what was to become of them. They explained how they were tricked into accepting the plane tickets and flying to America with the promise of marriage, and then found out that there were no future husbands to greet them, but instead brutal conditions they had to endure which made it difficult for them to trust anyone right now. They huddled together watching the black-clad people move around them frightened by the flashing lights of the emergency vehicles as they arrived, but they no longer tried to escape even though they were told that they were going to have to return to Russia.

Sam made his way over to Weston whose chest wound soaked the entire left side of his body with blood. Sam was surprised to see that the man was conscious. The only signs of distress was his pale face as the medics worked to stabilize him. All Sam could really hear was Remington's screams that by the time the EMTs got to him they had deteriorated too groans and moans. Weston obviously heard the man, and surprised Sam when he looked up at him and asked, "Will that…... whiny…... SOB live?"

Sam glanced over his shoulder at the man he had shot with his accustomed accuracy. "Perhaps, if he doesn't die of septic shock. I don't think that I nicked the femoral artery which would have caused him to bleed out but shot to the groin area can be a b**** to heal when it involves the colon as well."

"You shot him in the balls….you literally shot off his balls." Weston gathered to strength to repeat himself as he almost smiled at the thought.

"I am not that into male genitalia to check and see if that is the case, but if I left any of his package, I believe that it would be safe to say that he will not be able to use it again. I guarantee you that."

Weston appeared to try to draw his breath to respond, but he was interrupted by the medic saying, "we've radio for a helicopter to transport him." Sam knew what flight versus ambulance meant. Every minute would count if Weston was going to be able to survive the shots to his chest.

Weston could tell by the voices and Sam's silence that they expected the worst. "Just wait…...and see….I'm going to come out on top," Weston told Sam.

As Sam looked down at him, he figured that if sheer will power could keep a man alive, then Weston with be testifying at both Clarington and Remington's trials without any problems because he was a determined man.

At 6:30 am, Sam made it into his office. He hadn't even been home yet; he hadn't showered, and he still carried his rifle on his back in the strap. He was more tired than he had been since well since the last time he carried his rifle, but he also felt good. The only thing he wanted to do was take care of the remaining details and go home to Mercy, his Mercy, the love of his life.

Both Weston and Remington were in surgery at a hospital in Columbus, and even if Weston died, they still have more than enough evidence to prosecute Clarington and Remington..

Weston had been a regular fount of information revealing that Puckerman had been killed because of his habit of dosing the girls with GHB. Noah Puckerman had killed at least two of them, so Hunter had decided to have him eliminated. When he was asked about date-rape drugs, Weston had rattled off the names of the dealers he knew. A dozen different investigations have been launched as result of what Brody Weston had to say to the D.A..

When Cooper had given him all the details, Sam had personally ask Weston if he knew anything about the woman who had been given GHB at the Yucatan Club and was raped by at least six men. That was one question for which Weston didn't have any answers. Sam didn't think that there ever would be any answers.

When Sam opened his office door, he stared in disbelief at Emma Pillsbury sitting at her desk. She looked up and held out a cup of hot fresh coffee. "Here, you look like you're definitely going to need this chief."

Sam accepted the coffee and took a sip of it; yeah, it was so fresh he could still smell the coffee beans. He studied her pensively as he drank from the cup. "Okay, Emma tell me how do you do it."

"What are you talking about, do what?" she asked with an astonishment expression on her face.

"How do you know when I'm coming in, how do you always have hot coffee waiting for me, and what in the hell are you doing here before 6:30 in the morning?

"Yesterday was a busy day," she said, "I had a lot of stuff I needed to get don,e so I came in early to do it." Emma was never going to reveal the fact that she lived across the street from him right behind me,and that she knew how long it would take him to shower and get to work, so she always timed arrival to beat him to the station. She also listened to the police scanner. She hadn't slept all night waiting to find out the outcome of the case. She had brought a change of clothes and never went home, and that is why she had the coffee waiting for him today. She kn

"That doesn't explain how come the coffee's always hot. So, are you going to reveal to me your secret."

"No, I don't think so," she said with a smile.

"Don't you realize that I'm your boss, and I really really want to know."

"Tough luck," she said and swiveled back to face her computer screen.

* * *

He knew he should go home and clean up first; he knew he needed some sleep. But what he needed more than anything else in the world was to see Mercy, to be in the company of a woman who held his heart in the palm of her tiny hands. After dealing with the sordid messiness of what he had just seen, he needed her purity, cleanness, and her simple good heartedness. And even though he knew she was all right, he needed to see her, to let his eyes reassure his brain. He just hoped that she would excuse his filthiness and allow him to use her shower.

Almost as soon as he knocked, Mercy opened the door. "I heard you drive up," she said and then got a good look at him. "Goodness gracious, you aren't trying black face are you Sam. I love you pale skin and all."

"Very funny. It'll wash off," he said, swiping at the remnants of black face paint. He done a half-hearted job using paper towels in the men's restroom at the station, but there hadn't been any soap, and the job definitely call for soap and scrubbing.

Mercy knew that he was exhausted, and though she loved him, she didn't want him to ruin her sheets with streaks of black from his handsome face. "If you say, so."

Simba walked over to him and Sam couldn't resist picking up the pup to greet him. The puppy licked his face causing Mercy to look at them both in alarm. "I don't know if it's safe for him to do that."

"Why not? He unfortunately likes to lick every part of me head to toe literally."

"I don't care if he likes licking you. If you don't mind somebody who will lick his butt with the same tongue he is now licking your face putting his slobber all of you, why should I care. I just won't be kissing that face. Plus, the paint might make him sick."

Sam was listening to her words, but they were not penetrating his brain. He just wanted to grab her and hold her close and probably smear paint on her as well and have her slap the shit out of him. She looked so beautiful with her hair tied up in a silky looking scarf, free of makeup, and wearing that thin robe and nightie that he loved seeing her in. He could tell that she hadn't even worn panties underneath the seductive ensemble.

"I came here to tell you that everything has been wrapped up."

"I know, Cooper called and told me already."

"Cooper Anderson." Sam said more like growled the name. He could tolerate Cooper, even trusted him, but every time Mercy mentioned his name in a hero worship type of a voice, it made Sam hot with jealousy. He knew Mercy still believed the man was gay no matter what he said, but Sam sometimes resented her closeness to a man who had been using her for his own ends.

"Why are we standing here at the door?" Mercy asked as she urged him to come inside taking Simba from him and watching the pup run off to his own amusements. "You can take a shower while I cook you some breakfasts; I can make my homemade biscuits if you want me to."

Everything she said sounded like heaven to him. He was beginning to take off his clothes as he left the room with the foresight to pick up his clothing as he removed it, so that his clothes wouldn't become Simba's breakfast as he tore the items to shreds. Before he could finish his striptease, he stopped at the bathroom door. "Mercy, could you come here?"

"What do you need, Sam? You can use my body wash and shampoo like you did last time."

"It's not that. Remember that deal we made when we decided we were going to have a relationship that involved physical intimacy?"

"Yes," Mercy replied uncertainly.

"I told you that I would marry you if you became pregnant." Sam said looking into her eyes the windows of her beautiful soul.

"Of course,, I remember that, but I don't think I am pregnant from our first time, Sam. I know there's a small chance like you told me, but I think we are safe."

"Let's go to Gatlinburg and get married this weekend."

Mercy thought that sleep deprivation had scrambled Sam's brain. "Do you think that is the proper way to a propose to a woman. Some kind of Southern gentleman you are."

"What I am trying to say, and I know I am going about it all wrong is to tell you that I want it all with you. I want the dog, the children, the picket fence, everything that you dreamed of having on your birthday, I want to make it a reality. You are my dream come true, and I want to be everything that you wished for."

"You mean that you don't mind having children. Because I really want at least a couple of kids, and you know your issues, Sam."

"I was horrified at the memories, but you are not my ex-wife, you are the love of my life that I am willing to fight any battle for, climb any hill, and slay any dragon. You are my one. All I could think of last night and early this morning was you. I love you Mercy Jones, and I would do anything for you, please make me the happiest man in the galaxy by telling me that you will marry me?"

Sam could see Mercy weighing the cons and pros. He was afraid that she was going to say no. He didn't have a ring, he was stinky and filthy, but he dropped down to one knee and reached for her hand. "I know I am filthy and smelly, but I want you to know that I am willing to do whatever it takes to make you mine."

"Do you truly love me Sam. The Mercy Jones I was before and the Mercy Jones I am now and the Mercy Evans that you want me to be? I can't see that I am your type at all, and I haven't even met your family. Who knows what they will think. I don't know Sam…."

"Mercedes Ann-Marie Jones, I love you. I told you I loved you first, and you didn't say a word. It wasn't until after we made love that you told me that you loved me, and I believed you and I told you that I loved you back. Who cares what my family thinks? The only two people whose opinions matter are in this room right now. I know I am impetuous and that I am rushing you, but life is fragile who knows what tomorrow may bring, I just know that I love you and I want to marry you."

"Sam, I barely remember you murmuring that you loved me the first time after being exasperated with me. I was sleep deprived and didn't trust that you knew that you had let that confession slip. How was I to know that you didn't mean love me like you would an irritating little sister? And the second time you told me you loved me was after I said it first, and it was after sex. Even I know not to trust a man who says I love you after sexual intercourse."

"I don't know why you think we Southerners are into incest. I love my sister, but I thank God it's not the way I love you. I love everything about you. I love that you get your panties ruffled so easily, I love how you get so distracted and go off in your own imaginations, I love that you are a loving and caring daughter, niece, sister, and aunt. I love that you love your job and are passionate about it, I even love your compulsive nature to follow every letter of the law, I love the fact that you can't lie convincingly to save your life, and I love the fact that you care about people. I was interested in you before your makeover, and I love you standing here without makeup on and only that little gown and robe covering your sexy body. I love you even with your devotion to that dog who is probably going to cost us hundreds in underwear. I LOVE YOU and want to marry you right now this instance, but I am willing to compromise on a trip to Tennessee and let you meet my family, and then combine both of our families for a wedding there. Now, will you Mercedes Ann-Marie Jones do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

"I must be as crazy as you, but I think I will Sam. Yes!" She reiterated smiling up at him with that million watt smile that she'd given him when he ask to sign up for the virtual library. That smile did more to him than the changes to her hair, wardrobe, and makeup ever did.

Sam knew he was hot, stinky mess, but he couldn't stop himself from kissing her after she told him the words that he had been dying to hear, and she smiled that smile that caused him to fall in love with her all over again. He began dragging her towards the shower stripping off her clothes and stopped only to say, "Forget about cooking breakfast, i need you to take a shower with me."

"But what about Simba?"

"He can come in the bathroom with us. He can take a bath in the sink."

"You really are crazy Sam Evans. I can't do that with him watching us."

"I will put a blindfold on him, he won't see a thing."

"You will do no such thing."

"Then we will close the door and let him play on the floor. If he is going to be our dog and have his run of our home, then he will have to get use to seeing and hearing me ravishing you on the regular."

"Can we start trying to have a baby right away, you know we aren't getting any younger?"

"Let's start right now. It's a shame that we will never use that jumbo box of Fantasy condoms you bought." Sam said as he they began to make love in the shower. It hadn't taken Mercy long to undress and Sam only had to remove his pants and underwear as he turned the water on the tub after letting Simba go outside to play in the fenced in backyard.

Sam washed his face off before turning around in the shower to place kisses on Mercy's stomach. Then he moved up her body kissing her breasts and sucking her nipples until they were hard chocolate drops that he couldn't seem to get enough. When he finished playing with her breasts he kissed her mouth delighting himself in the taste of his future wife.

Mercy knew Sam was going to cause her to melt as always and he had. She couldn't stop herself from letting her hands travel along his back and using the body wash to lather soap his entire body from chest to toes. When she saved his groin region for last, Sam let out moans after moans and then grabbed her hands and pushed up her up against the shower's wall.

Sam couldn't take Mercy's teasing hands any longer, he felt as if he was going to explode. He got some of her body wash and used it to lubricate his fingers as he readied her for his possession. When after a few thrust she drew up her legs and clasped them around his hips, Sam couldn't stop himself from removing his fingers and entering her body as they had unprotected sex for the first time. Sam was fighting the effort to not hammer into her body, but when she raised her hips while tightening her muscles with him inside her, he couldn't stop himself from thrusting deep and hard, over and over, and what had begun as simple pleasure became something more powerful.

Mercy's knees went out and all she could do was cling to Sam with her arms as she experienced the pinnacle of pleasure shattering so deep and spreading out in convulsive waves. For a minute, she truly thought she had lost the capacity to breathe and think. She went limp releasing him to move even faster and stronger until her second orgasm triggered his own.

In the aftermath Sam gently removed himself from his body, and began to wash her just as she had washed him earlier from chest to toe. He couldn't stop himself from nibbling on her toes which caused her to laugh. They both wanted to linger in the shower forever after getting clean, but neither trusted Simba out there alone in the backyard, so they forced themselves out of the bathroom and Mercy put only her robe on while Sam only wrapped a towel around the lower region of his body as she they walked hand and hand to bring the dog inside before all three settled down for a long morning nap.

 **A/N: Whew even though this chapter was 75% of the author's work, I was exhausted ending this tale. So, I didn't have the chance to give it the thorough read through it needed before posting it. So, please forgive all errors. I may not agree with the author's original work in it's entirety, but I stuck to it as much as I could. The other 5% of the story was from the Glee universe, and the remaining bits came from me and my awesome reviewers. Thanks again for your reviews, follows, favorites, and most of all reading this work. I will post the epilogue tomorrow, and then I will be on a well-deserved vacay.**


	23. Epilogue

**A/N: Don't own anything but my mistakes and the joy that I accomplished my goal. I will try to be diligent in updating Evans Eight sporadically in the future and hopefully will return next summer with another idea not original (they are all for my own books), but something that I will put Samcedes in that I would enjoy reading myself….**

 **Epilogue: Five Months Later**

Her mom and Aunt Jo had outdone themselves with Sunday dinner. The meal was a sort of delayed outdoor reception for her and Sam, even though they had had a dinner in Gatlinburg the week before which was right after their wedding which Sam complained about the delay of. But because that meal was in a restaurant, her mom had insisted that it didn't count. Now, the tables literally groaned under the weight of all the food for her family including Sam's mom, dad, sister, and brother who were there as well as Tina, Mike, and their kids, and Cooper and his friend Will whom Mercy had been astonished to recognize after all this time. She hadn't thought Will was gay because why would he been at the Yucatan Club dancing with women, if he was? Of course Sam was still adamant that Cooper was straight, so maybe she wasn't a good judge of such matters. She did have a crush on Kurt when she was in school and thought that the boy liked her in return, and he had been obviously gay.

Simba went underneath the table unerringly locating her by her scent and plopped down right beside her feet. His little tongue lapped at her ankles and she looked under the tablecloth to check on him. He had that sleepy look that meant he was settling down for a nap. He had worn himself out greeting so many different people, and of course, each person had to be played with before he moved on to the next.

Only a few short months ago, she had been agonized by how empty her life was and now it was overflow. Her family and friends had always been there for her, but she had found not only some new dear friends which included Cooper, Tina, and Mike in addition to Simba and her husband, Sam, but also in-laws who were very nice, loving, and accepting. It took Mrs. Evans the longest to warm up to Mercy because she realized that her son was never going to move back home, but Mercy just being her plain self won her mother-in-law over in less than 24 hours. Sam's dad teased her mother-in-law just like Sam teased her. One thing that he liked to say around everyone was if he had met Mercy's Aunt Jo before her, then he would have probably married her because those two got along like a house on fire a lawyer and a professional shade thrower. Aunt Jo and Daddy Dwight were a match made in hell, but both families enjoyed their brickering immensly. Mercy looked at her husband and wondered if he would look like his father in the years to come still so devastatingly handsome.

How could she had ever imagined that he wasn't her type? This particular white man was just what she needed and he had became her right man regardless of the color of his skin. He always looked so sexy with his short cropped sandy brown hair and his broad shoulders and that cocky way he had a walking like a man who knew he caught your attention and then some. He still crowded her in bed and out, but she had learned to adapt to it, if he took up more than half of the bed, then she had nowhere else to sleep, so she would place half of her body on top of him. So, if he wasn't getting enough sleep these days, it wasn't her fault it was his own. She really thought him crowding her in bed was an excuse he used to get late night nookie, but she wasn't complaining about it. She didn't mind him spooning him, if that was the case. He was a cuddle monster whether he wanted sex or not. He was addicted to touching her, and she wasn't complaining.

It wasn't the sex that had her smiling like a loon as her Aunt Jo had insinuated earlier when no children were near. What had her face fixed with a permanent grin was so far her period was four weeks late, and she was stunned by the possibility that she might have gotten pregnant so fast without fertility treatments. Her doctor wanted her to try for a year to get pregnant before taking fertility drugs. She didn't know why she was surprised that she was pregnant so soon because Sam had certainly worked hard to ensure that he pleasured her as often as possible, and she devoted herself to pleasuring him in return. She had kept waiting for her period to start, but this morning she had a certain feeling that she thought she could be pregnant. When they left her mother's house, they were going to buy a pregnancy test kit. Tomorrow morning they would know for sure.

She couldn't decide if she wanted to go to Hummel's Pharmacy to buy the test or not because she enjoyed being messy. The only reason why she was hesitant about shopping there was because she wouldn't want Carol to spread the news of them being expecting parents, and that was the reason why they married so quickly.

If Sam had had his way they would have been married months ago. But after he bought her an engagement ring and took her took her home to visit his family, he was ready to talk it over with everyone and agreed on premarital counseling and allowing Mercy time to buy a gown because unlike him it would be her first wedding. Of course Aunt Jo had cursed him out and told him what she thought of his plan to elope and made him think that Mercy didn't need a father with a shotgun as long as she had an aunt like that. Mercy loved her husband faults and all and thinking about their wedding had her remembering their honeymoon in the mountains, which Mercy loved every minute of. She knew that if she was pregnant, that she was pregnant before her honeymoon, but she didn't care what the gossiping people in Lima had to say. They pretty much had a field day with the Claringtons, so she and Sam were no longer gossiped about at all. Because of that public spectacle and media storm, Sam was seen as the town's hero, and everybody conveniently forgot the condom fiasco.

However when the town found out she was expecting a baby so soon, she knew that would change. She didn't care. Instead, she wondered what their baby would be like and whether or not their first child would be a boy or girl. She thought of Sam throwing a football with a strong little fellow and that thought made her heart dissolve. Then, she imagined a little girl with a wide smile and curly ringlets cradled in her daddy's muscular arms, and she beamed with delight. No matter what she had, she'd ask Cooper to help her decorate the nursery because he has such a wonderful taste in decorating, and she wanted to ask him if he would be the baby's godfather, but she would have to talk it over with Sam first because he might have Mike, Artie, or even that Ryder person in mind for the job.

Mercy's trip to the etherland as Sam called it was interrupted when she overheard Cooper comment on the lace tablecloth. He was asking her mother if she knew how old it was, and Mercy tilted her head to study him. He was as neatly dressed as always today wearing a white dress shirt and pleated navy trousers with a navy belt along his waist. He wore navy Oxfords, as well.

Underneath the table Sam's leg touched hers as if he couldn't bear not touching her any longer. She ignored him and then locked her eyes on Cooper.

Sam realized whom she was focused on, and he certainly shifted restlessly. "Mercy," he began but he was too late.

Her voice rang out clear and crisp. "Cooper, do you know what color puce is?"

Caught completely off guard Cooper turned to look at her with a weird look, "You're making that color up aren't you?" he asked wondering where the question had come from.

* * *

Brody Weston had been out of the hospital for almost a month when he drove up to Hunter Clarington's house though the former mayor no longer live there. His former associate was out on bail and supposedly living in Westerville under house arrest until his trial, but Weston hadn't made any effort to contact him. For now, he was just concentrating on being alive and getting his strength back.

He been in an odd mood since getting shot. Maybe it wasn't the case with everybody, but to him almost dying had changed his outlook on life at least temporarily. He still figured he'd handle things in the past the best way possible for himself; even though, it had gone bad there at the end with Remington showing up. He felt his face move upward giving off a cold smile; he still enjoyed thinking about Evans well-placed shot in the man's groin. He knew there was one other person who probably enjoyed thinking about that shot just as much as he did, and that was why he was here.

He rang the doorbell and waited as he heard footsteps then Brittany Clarington open the door. She didn't know him though, so she didn't unlock the screen door. "Yes, how may I help you?"

She was a gorgeous woman he thought more than merely pretty. He'd heard she had stopped drinking. He had hoped it was true. Maybe she had maybe she hadn't, but today her eyes were clear if full of dark shadows.

"I'm Brody Weston," he said introducing himself without fear of recrimination.

She stared at him through the screen, and he knew what she was thinking. He had been in her husband's employ privy to all her dirty secrets; especially the one about Hunter giving her to Remington.

"Go away," she said and started to shut the door.

"It doesn't matter," he said softly, and she froze her hand still on the door.

"What….what doesn't matter?" Her voice was low and strained.

"What Remington did to you; it doesn't matter he didn't touch who you are just your body."

She rolled her eyes full of rage. "Yes, he did touch me! He killed a part of me, so don't you dare come to my home and tell me what he did or didn't do."

Weston put his hands in his pocket. "Are you going to let him win?"

"He didn't win; I did I'm here, and when he leaves the hospital and goes to trial, he will go to prison where I'm sure he'll be very popular for the rest of his pathetic life."

"Are you going to let him win?" Weston repeated his cool gaze locked on hers and she hesitated.

The moment drew out as if she was helpless to close the door. Her breaths came fast and shallow. "Why are you here?" She whispered.

"Because you need me," he said and Brittany opened the door.

* * *

I didn't agree with the author on several things. This epilogue was supposed to be written probably a couple of weeks later, and I couldnt for all the tea in China make that believable. I tweaked a lot because her Sam and his proposal was way worse than my version. She had stinky Sam tell Mercy she was going to marry him that weekend and that he wouldn't let her go until she said yes LOL. Simba would have been allowed to bite his butt. I changed a lot but stayed true to the inherent characters of everybody in the book. Somethings that Aunt Jo said were too outrageous even for me and I made Jane more human than just a two line throw away character. So, this work has some things changed that affected the continuity which I am at fault. Some things I can't write Also, in the last chapter Cooper went to pick Mercy up from the hotel as soon as Clarington was arrested after questioning. So, that is why she is at home when Sam pulls up later that morning.

But getting back to that epilogue... the part is exactly how the original work ended no lie, and I was like surely a part two was going to come out with Brody's being shot causing him to reevaluate and relive his life now with purpose restoring what was lost to all those hurt in his former job. Brody was once a paid prostitute and he encountered similar situations with older rich women who abused him and he knows how Brittany feels. Together they would embark on a journey of healing and start a nonprofit designed to combat human trafficking.

As far as I know this work was never published nor does it exist but it lives on in my fertile imagination. So, this is my version of part two: Brody is the antihero and Brittany is the antiheroine. I see Brody like the Cato character in _Underground_. The slave who got put in charge of other slaves who never really forgets that he was once a slave, too. They both will fight along with Mercy to ensure that Clarington and Remington pay for their crimes. Remington will never be out on bail because he actually shot Weston with the intent to kill him, so he will never see the light of day. Clarington on the other hand will be forgiven by Mercy because that's who she is (like my mom was in real life always forgiving no matter the hurt). She hates what he did, but she is a lover of humanity and believes in second, third, fourth, and fifth chances her sister is a prime example of that. She will testify and feel joy at his sentencing, but also feel sadness at all his potential going to waste when she sees him when he gets out.

When Hunter gets out of prison, he will be divorced from Brittany and she and Brody will rub it in his face that he has lost everything when he comes and is eventually allowed to have supervised visits with the children in the home that Brody now owns yep he gets to keep and use most of his dirty money squirreled away in accounts in the Cayman Islands that he uses to start his own business as a security consultant (you would want a former crook to tell you how to stop a crook lol) and a nonprofit with Britany. It takes Brittany a long time to heal to be able to be sexual available and Brody patiently waits as the family moves to Columbus to escape Lima and its memories once they become a couple.

Hunter's punishment will be living in Westerville with his father who will rub his failures in his face constantly to the point that Hunter will become suicidal and forced to be locked up in a mental institution and receive therapy, so by the time he is out and about his children will be adults and want nothing to do with him, and he will die old and alone because sometimes people do. After being raped in prison by associates of Brody who at the time was still bitter had all of his associates who were locked up with him to make sure that Hunter was used as a toilet bowl for Brittany's revenge...Menkins was included if you remember the person who stabbed Puck, he ended up being Menkins b**** for protection and is unable to have lasting relationships with anyone. His life is spent in hiding because his body has tattoos that claim that he was Menkins' woman, his brand is on Hunter's forehead and he has breasts that were tattooed on his chest as well Menkin's name on his butt. He has various Aryan symbols and racist things tattooed all over him to show his affiliation. And the cost and pain of having them removed are eventually too much for him to handle, so he remains in isolation and heavily medicated.

Now for warm and fuzzy to get all that yuckiness out out of my brain. Sam and Mercy go on to have two daughters (15 months apart) and one oops baby boy when Mercy is 41 who is exactly like his father and who Mercy finally convinces Sam to allow Cooper to be a godparent of. Mike and Tina are the godparents to the first child (Tina and Mercy become great friends and it's Tina who gives her the boldness to be open with her sister Jane, so they can have a better relationship) and Jane (new and improved version) and Anthony are godparents of their second child. Her two daughters are a lighter skinned version of her mom (a chunky nerd like she was/chunky like Sam was as a kid as well) and Aunt Jo (a sassy beanpole) with Sam only contributing to their hazel eye color and lighter complexion. Sam has them spoiled rotten. Her son is all his dad but darker of course with his daddy's troublesome ways. He keeps everybody busy with chasing him down.

They have another dog named Nala who is a golden retriever, too. Sam has an outside dog which is the German Shepherd named Scarlet but goes by Scar who Mercy named and barely tolerates but is beloved by the rest of the Evans, and she keeps the family safe. Mercy still works at the library, and Sam still works as the chief of police with Emma who refuses to retire. Aunt Jo and Marcia provide childcare for Mercy at Sam's house while they dogsit as well. Aunt Jo has threatened to use Simba's training collar on her great-nephew, but everyone knows that little rascal is her favorite. He's a typical 3 yr old.

Face Claim for Marcia Jones: Loretta Devine Face Claim for Aunt Jo: Alfre Woodard Daughters' Names: Maria (after Mercy's mom, Sam mom, and of course Ann-Marie lol), Anastasia Evans (little sister Staci got some love too), Jonie (after Aunt Jo and Jane and her father's last name) Samantha Evans (named her after daddy because she was supposed to be the last one) and the Son: Macarthur (named for her dad and Artie) Hudson (in honor of Finn) Evans the children go by Ree, JoJo, and Mac…..

 **A/N:That is all I have in the way of my own personal headcanon for this story. I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed reimagining it in an AU Samcedes world. Thanks a trillion to who always inspire me to keep typing WhoknowsTV, Sweetiedee, Monni2215, Mowatts87, Jujubee58, Lamimi25, Zini, and also much love and hellos to Cherica22,Red1FL, randomlittleme, Akasha83, Guest reviewers, the legendary Isis Aurora Tomoe and everybody else who inspired me to finish this tale. I hate listing names because I fear I will leave out someone unintentionally. Much love, peace, and joy, and maybe one day soon, I will be a reading a fanfiction written by some of you like Sweetiedee. I can't wait to get caught up on reading now that I am not busy writing.**


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